Ciego de Avila, February 11 (RHC)-- The tobacco growers of this central Cuban province stand out today as the second of the island in providing quality leaves for the manufacture of Habanos for the foreign market.

Emigdio Montesino, the director of development of the agricultural company Florencia, in Ciego de Avila, belonging to the national group Tabacuba told Prensa Latina that this is guaranteed with a leaf of good texture, size, color and without stains.   He said that last year, the delivered about 40 tons of leaves, 17 percent of the national production, although, the program was not completed due to the effects of Hurricane Irma and Tropical Storm Alberto.

Ciego de Avila province has about 730 hectares devoted to the production of tobacco, 500 of them with the technique known as tapado, and distributed in the ten municipalities, where there are about 575 producers, according to Emigdio Montesino.  In addition, the province has over 2,300 drying rooms.

Montesino added that or several years they have been working with innovative technologies in planting and with varieties such as Criollo 2010 and Corojo 2012, resistant to climate change and pests and diseases. 

According to Montesino, among their projections are to increase the areas of covered tobacco to increase the production of quality leaves, so that the Cuban cigar continues to be present in the world market.

The municipality of Florence with a long tobacco tradition, is number one in the delivery of quality leaves.  It has 300 farmers and two Cooperatives of Agricultural Production dedicated to tobacco.