While working on his small Cucalambé farm, prominent producer Omar Evelio Montero Gutiérrez imagines the day when he will have the documents ready to be able to start several projects on other nearby lands that he received in usufruct.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- "I am limited by these bureaucratic procedures and, if it were up to me, I would already be harvesting fruits from there. This process is not advancing as fast as I would like, and the need to produce food should be prioritized more. This is not the time to put things off until tomorrow."
He is a man of many endeavors and ideas that sprout and grow in a couple of hours. The authorities of the national movement of Urban, Suburban, and Family Farming know this well, as he has always been one of its best exponents.
"In this part, I have two hectares and they gave me another space, which brings me to half a hectare (6.71 hectares). There I want to put the same thing I have on this side because so far the results have been good. In other words, the idea is to grow fruit trees, aquaculture, medicinal and ornamental plants, and vegetables."
"Right now there is lettuce, coriander, garlic, chives, five varieties of mango, guavas, and a little coffee. In addition, I am developing aquaculture, through pond farming, and I raise rabbits. With all this, I am there for the people."
Omar gets up before the roosters wake up. That is his routine from Monday to Sunday. Every day he greets his workers, talks to them, and tells them what the main tasks are.
Then he joins in, as one more, until the sun goes down, without thinking about fatigue.
"I try to do something new every day. In addition to planting, I protect the soil through vermiculture. Thanks to this technique, I produce solid and liquid humus. I even prepare it with activated biochar. I am packing and packaging it in knobs. This is one of my contributions to Urban Agriculture.
"Everything here is agroecological. I feed the fish with the remains from vermiculture. I also provide some local farmers with fish and I fertilize my plants. In addition, I use the waste from herbs and leaves. I compost them and reincorporate them into the production process. I don't make any losses."
Omar has many plans for his new land. For example, he plans to plant a hectare of coffee, interspersed with donkey bananas to guarantee shade. He also plans to set up a training center together with the university, as they have been working together for years.
"I want to give knowledge to other producers so that they can see the value and importance of solid and liquid humus for the development of agriculture. We have to understand that this way we will eat healthier and have better production results."
"That's the way to help those who follow. I think about it because those who were born before us thought about us and that's why we survived. That's where my sense of belonging and love of work comes from. That's why you can count on Omar until the last day."
