Very close to the sea, in an arid and semi-desert area of the municipality of Puerto Padre, Ricardo Lozada Peña became one of the largest milk producers in the Roberto Caballero Credit and Services Cooperative (CCS by its acronym in Spanish).
 Cattle rancher Ricardo Lozada Peña |
Puerto Padre, Las Tunas.- Ever since he started in the activity, the effort has been enormous because to quench the thirst of the cattle he had to bring water from a dam, two or three kilometers away from the stables. But, as a stimulus to his daily efforts, circumstances changed.
"Thanks to APOCOOP, the Support Project for Agricultural Intercooperation, I was given a windmill, which will allow us to benefit one hundred percent. I am a producer of large and small cattle and with 25 milking cows, I deliver 150 liters of milk on average every day."
"With this windmill, our production will increase. I have the pens for the animals close to the house and now everything is easier for us. We, farmers, have to grow and produce for the people, to always step up and deliver."
Alexander Pupo Ávila, who is responsible for the collective use area, also benefits from the project. He assures that "this is what was needed for the development of the cattle and to be able to deliver more milk to the people. We are already working on the sheds and I think that in a few days, we will bring the animals here and we won't have to work so hard with them."
Aniuta Pino Pérez is the president of the CCS and recognizes that APOCOOP came to this extremely dry area to transform the environment, the productive capacities, and the ways of acting of the associates, who are now more motivated and committed.
"Here we are all beneficiaries of the project. Initially, we distributed five irrigation systems that are now being exploited in areas for personal use. Now one of the mills will allow us to increase milk production and the other will allow us to increase sheep and goat rearing."
"This will give greater economic solvency to the cooperative and will favor sources of employment for women because the availability of water will be used for planting protein and fodder plants, as well as an area for growing various crops for the consumption of members."
The "Roberto Caballero" is one of the cooperatives that benefited from the 16 windmills recently delivered by APOCOOP, which include a 10,000-liter tank for water storage and two drinking troughs, each with a capacity of 1,000 liters.
According to Roberto Medrano Ledesma, president of the provincial committee of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), the positive impact is evident throughout the territory, which is dedicated to the Peasant Congress in Armas, on its 65th anniversary on 21 September.
"These resources are mainly used for livestock development, for the supply of water to the herds, and the sowing of animal feed. Therefore, in the short and medium term in Las Tunas. In the short and medium term, the production of meat and milk will be boosted in Las Tunas."
APOCOOP promotes the use of renewable energy sources to improve the performance of the agricultural sector and increase the availability of water in one of the driest areas of the country with the smallest surface area under irrigation systems.
Sources from the Provincial Delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture indicated that with the 16 new arrivals, the agricultural sector has registered 1,132 windmills. Of these, 101 are inactive due to difficulties with the machines or the piping.
This number does not meet the needs, but it is a step forward in the effort to guarantee the water supply for livestock without affecting the environment, with the use of wind energy and - consequently - a lower consumption of electricity.
