Taking care of the health of agricultural plantations is a task that goes beyond the responsibility, good practices, and wishes of individual or state producers since phytosanitary workers play an important role in this management.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Throughout the years, their work has been decisive in the prevention of diseases, fungi, and pests of harmful insects in tobacco plantations and various crops; especially in sowings of the common beans, which are greatly affected by the Megalurothrips usitatus or flower thrip.

These specialists train landowners concerning the wide existing entomofauna in Cuba and teach how to reduce the populations of those that harm crops with the use of beneficial species, many of which are reproduced in Plant Health laboratories.

They also show practical actions for the biological control of these species, such as the installation of colored traps, while they strive to monitor invasive exotic plants to prevent their spread in arable areas.

Achieving healthy crops is possible even without the use of chemical products, which are deficient today in the country and tend to be disused; because interest in organic farming is growing, which results in better food quality and environmental protection.

The work of phytosanitary workers is widely recognized, especially on July 17 each year, since on a similar date in 1884, Patricio Cardín Peñarredonda was born, the first Cuban agricultural entomologist, and one of the initiators of Plant Health in the territory.