Sugar cane harvester.

Holguin, March 30 (RHC)--The technical reliability and cutting capacity of the CCA 5000 M and 5500 sugarcane harvesters, both of totally Cuban design, were shown during recent validation tests conducted by specialists of the Cuban Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (IAGRIC).

While waiting for the prudential time available to the experts of that entity to issue the verdict, the machines --produced in cooperation with a company from the People's Republic of China-- have met the operating requirements, including cutting more than 50 tons per hour with a reasonable rate of fuel consumption.

Reyner Morales Mora, mechanical engineer and technical director of the "60th Anniversary of the October Revolution" Enterprise (Sugarcane Harvester Factory), told the press that the tests, carried out at the UBPC Yaguabo, in the municipality of Cacocum, exhausted the period of 1200 hours established by the Research Institute.

Throughout this stage, he confirmed, members of the Test Team of the Agricultural Machinery Development Center (CEDEMA), which designed the machines, remained at hand to monitor their performance, as did the personnel of the "60th Anniversary of the October Revolution".

The validation will grant the license for serial production. It is a complex task because, in addition to the negotiations with the foreign part and the inevitable import of resources, the Cuban factory needs a technological upgrade in efficiency and quality to achieve the expected net savings in foreign currency when comparing our machines with those purchased abroad.

"In addition, the country's customers, having a fully competitive domestically produced equipment, cannot import a similar one manufactured in other nations unless our agency certifies that we are not in a position to produce it here," Morales Mora said.