Instituto de Investigaciones de Cítricos y Frutales, CubaResearch Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick, www.fibl.ch

Development of Organic Fruit Production in Cuba

Objectives of the projectDevelop the scientific base of and develop solu-tions for organic farming in CubaDevelop the production, processing, certificationand marketing of organic citrus and tropical fruitsin CubaCapacity building and development of know howon organic farming in CubaInstitution building and development of organicagriculture structures in CubaDevelopment of partnerships between Cubanproducers, processors and traders in Europe

Local partnersInstituto de Investigaciones de Cítricos y otrosFrutales (IICF)Corporación Nacional de Cítricos (CNC) Citricos Ceiba FarmMinisterio de la AgriculturaAsociación Cubana de Agricultura OrgánicaInstituto de Investigaciones de Pastos y Forrajes(IIPF)Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones de la Caña de Azúcar (INICA)Instituto de Investigaciones Fundamentales enAgricultura Tropical (INIFAT)Instituto de SuelosCentro de Mecanización Agropecuaria (CEMA)Instituto de Investigaciones de MecanizaciónAgropecuaria (IIMA)Universidad de Ciego de AvilaUniversidad Agraria de La Habana

Project activities Development of field research concepts and designof test plots on organic citrus productionDesigning and implementing a 50 ha pilot area oforganic citrus productionFeasibility studies and conversion planning of largescale citrus and tropical fruit farmsTraining of farmers, extension workers, scientistsElaboration of extension leafletsBuilding a Cuban certification unitElaboration of market studies and supporting themarketing of organic fruits and processed products

Conversion planning on a large citrus farm in Cienfuegos (Cuba).

Coconut farm in Moron(Cuba). Tests with legu-

minous cover crops(Neonotonia wightii)

and sheep pasturing.

Why organic farming in Cuba?large-scale, capital intensive and highly mod-ernised monocultures (economies of scale);extreme shortages of fuel, fertilizers and pesti-cides;material incentives and labour reorganisation ofthe state farms to cooperative-like UBPCs withthe objective of preserving productivity;creation of an ecological mosaic of productionsystems and landscape elements;well prepared human resources and maintaininga large number of local centres;organic farming may not only allow Cuba tosurvive under high uncertainties but may alsorelease it from economic dependence.

Instituto de Investigaciones de Cítricos y Frutales, CubaResearch Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick, www.fibl.ch

Evaluation and Development of Organic Citrus Production Methods in Cuba

Fertilization experimentCrop yields are a fundamental factorof economic success and dependvery much on nitrogen fertilization.Before making use of imported fertil-izers, assessing the physical and bio-logical condition of the soil and opti-mizing the level of organic matter arethe methods preferred in organicfarming to solve nutrient deficiencyproblems.

A crucial question is how to guar-antee nitrogen nutrition on large cit-rus plantations by organic measuresonly. The aim of this experimenttherefore is to evaluate the agronom-ic, ecological and economic effects offour different fertilization concepts:

N-deposition from rain

Nutrients available for plant uptake

Microorganisms

N-fixation

leguminous cover crop

K, P, Ca, Mg from mineral soil fraction

N, P from organic soil fraction

Organic on-farmfertilizerscompostmanureslurrygreen manuremulchplant residuesprocessing by-products

imported organicand mineral fertilizersimported organic fertilizers (fish-, blood-, bonemeal, seaweed extracts, guano...)rock powders rock phosphatepotassium sulfatemicronutrients

Objectives There are three main agronomic questions related tothe conversion of citrus plantations in Cuba: 1. How to guarantee nitrogen fertilization?2. How to substitute herbicides and how to cover

the soil?3. How to produce an optimal compost with the

existing raw materials?Much research work has already been done on

these issues for most crops and a lot of practicalexperience exists on farm level worldwide. But onlylittle experience is available for organic citrus pro-

duction in the tropics. Therefore it is necessary tostudy these questions specifically for the case oforganic citrus production under tropical conditions inCuba.

The test plots pursue the following objectives: to evaluate specific organic management methods

on Cuban citrus plantations in order to develop thebest management practice under practical condi-tions;to evaluate and demonstrate the effects of organic

production methods under practical conditions.

1. Variant 1 «FiBL sandwich system»2. Variant 2 «traditional cover crop»3. Variant 3 «tree strip tillage, alleyway mulching»4. Variant 4 «herbicide (control/status quo)».In all four variants, the alleyway is covered by a legu-minous cover crop and receives compost applica-tions every second year.

Cover crop experimentOne of the keys to organic farming is to find solu-tions to substitute herbicides. In reality this questionhas to be extended to that of how to manage soilcover on citrus plantations. The objective of thecover-crop experiment is to evaluate the followingfour different soil management concepts and tostudy their effects on tree nutrition and on soil con-servation:

1. Variant 1 «organic on-farm fertilizers»2. Variant 2 «imported organic fertilizers»3. Variant 3 «step by step from synthetic

to organic fertilizers»4. Variant 4 «control/status quo».

Instituto de Investigaciones de Cítricos y Frutales, CubaResearch Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick, www.fibl.ch

Evaluation and Development of Organic Citrus Production Methods in Cuba

Compost experimentOrganic farms must implement a long-term soilmanagement program. The aim is to replenish the soil ecosystem and to make full use of on-farmnatural resources. A very important method toimprove soil quality and to supply the plants withnutrients from local natural resources is the applica-tion of compost.

Composted manure is produced in specializedinstitutions (Empresas de Suministro Agriopecuario)in a fermentation process. In Cuba there is only littleexperience with on-farm compost production. Themost important question here is the raw materialmixture. In Cuba, the following raw materials areavailable:

animal manure from poultry, pig and cattle farmsby-products from the food industry: sugarcanebagasse, citrus-, pineapple- and coffee-pulp and peelplant material: plant residues, straw Sugarcane bagasse is available

in large quantities in Cuba and is a very valuable raw material

for compost production.

The objective of the compost experiment is toevaluate five different raw-material mixtures and todevelop, at the same time, a system that permits a good fermentation with locally available material.The nutrient value and quality of the compost aswell as its effects on the soil will also be studied.

Inst. SuelosSoil analysis

Methods of organic fruitproduction

Organic farming resarchmethods, methods of fieldresearch

Analysis and monitoring of special parameters (soilmicrobial biomass, carbon and nitrogen mineralization, macrofauna etc.)Transfer of methods

CEMA, IIMASpecific equipment

• Livestock farms• Sugar cane mills• Citrus processing plants Compost raw material

INICA, INIFATComposting mechanization

IIPFCover crops

Colaboration ContractFiBL-IICF-Ceiba• Definition of aims, variants and monitoring parameters

• Concept and design of test plots• Scientific coaching and coordination

• Evaluation and transfer of results

Methods of citrus production

Citrus and fruit farmingresearch methods, methods of field research

Analysis and monitoring of special parameters (pest and disease development, development of cover crops, soil profile etc)

Plant protection concept

Ceiba Citrus Farm

Realization of necessary investments

Implementation in the field:application of all treatments

Monitoring of simple parameters(yields, manpower etc.)