Taking innovation from the academies to the countryside, as part of a social process, linked to solutions to local problems and, above all, at the service of food production and the welfare of families, is one of the main achievements of the implementation, in the municipality of Jesús Menéndez, of the Local Agricultural Innovation Project (PIAL for its acronym in Spanish).
"Jesús Menéndez", Las Tunas.- The initiative, which is already in its fourth stage of implementation in this and other territories of the province, is materializing results in the introduction of more than a hundred clones and varieties of crops that are better adapted to the soil and climatic conditions of this demarcation, as well as in the creation of capacities and the establishment of a dialogue between researchers, the peasantry, institutions, and the Government.
Aramís Rivas Diéguez, the coordinator in "Jesús Menéndez" of PIAL, declares that another contribution is the use of financing such as the territorial contribution of one percent in sheep and goat breeding, today with three local development projects in support of this activity and the possibility of extending it to other areas.
The university professor also emphasizes that one of the objectives of agricultural innovation in this municipality is to achieve a value chain approach to production, for which they are taking steps in crops such as chickpeas, for which they hope to achieve a designation of origin with JP94 to link the product to a specific region and culture, adding value.
Rivas Diéguez adds that they have similar plans for sesame intending to achieve an industrialization process and invoice oil and other derivatives, as part of a joint effort with Azcuba.
PIAL, he adds, is also bearing fruit in the generation of sources of employment, infrastructure, the participation of producers in socialization spaces, the acquisition of technologies, and the positioning of food sovereignty and nutritional education in the municipal development strategy.
The doctor in Agricultural Sciences specifies that everything achieved under the agricultural innovation results in the construction of public policies and Local Development projects, today with more than twenty in these and other branches of the socio-economic events of the municipality of Jesús Menéndez.
"However, he specifies, there are still challenges to be met, such as the impacts of climate change, migration from rural areas, population aging, lack of a labor force in the countryside, commercialization, and the impacts of the economic crisis.
"Such challenges of agriculture in the territory and the country involve coordinated efforts of several actors, he added.
"I always say that agriculture is an industry out in the open and that we are subjected to many factors from which the will of human beings to maneuver and respond to them escapes. Because of so many complexities such as climate, for example, the agriculture sector is one of the riskiest at the international level and therefore receives less investment, which also implies looking for more economical and sustainable ways to achieve production.
"There are many challenges ahead, but I believe that the fact of reaching an understanding and finding a model that will help us achieve long-term goals is already a step towards meeting the needs of the population in agricultural matters," said the researcher from Las Tunas, winner of the Cuban Academy of Sciences award.
