Havana, August 8 (RHC)-- The Council of Ministers in Cuba has approved a set of amendments to the policy in force regarding the handing over in usufruct of idle land previously state-owned to individuals and entities. 

Orlando Díaz, Legal Director in the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture, said the new regulations broaden the scope of the land tenure for cultivation and provide greater guarantees to the land users.

The new regulations will come into force 60 days after the publication Tuesday in the Official Gazette. Among other guarantees for the land users, the new norms expand from 10 to 20 years the tenure for farm land handed over to individuals and render indeterminate the tenure granted to entities.  Also, farmers can now lease up to 26.8 hectares, twice the previous amount of land, while for cattle ranchers, that figure is expanded to 67 hectares.

More than two million hectares of idle state-owned land have been turned over in usufruct to people and entities in Cuba in the last ten years.