Report: Cuba Slashes 2023-2024 Pinar del Río Tobacco Crop Target

The impact of Hurricane Ian—which, in September 2022, directly hit Cuba’s prized tobacco-growing region of Pinar del Río—continues to cause problems for the country’s cigar production.

A report from Granma—a state-run newspaper—indicates that the country has officially reduced its targeted planting area in Pinar del Río by roughly 21 percent. Grupo Empresarial Tabacuba—the state-run company tasked with managing the production of tobacco and cigars—has reduced its targeted goals for the 2023-2024 harvest from the planned 12,905 hectares to 10,200.

That said, it indicates that just 7,700 hectares have been planted so far, though planting has been extended to Feb. 20. The Granma report was from Feb. 8, meaning that Cuban officials planned on planting 2,500 hectares in less than two weeks.

A hectare is 100m x 100m, about 2.5x that of an acre.

While 7,700 hectares is barely half of the 13,921 hectares targeted for Pinar Del Ríro in 2021-2022, it is a noticeable improvement compared to last year. Last year, even after giving farmers 50 more days to plant tobacco, just 5,150 hectares had been planted in Pinar del Río by late March. That tobacco crop was described as the smallest in the country’s history.

It was estimated that Ian damaged 90 percent of the curing barns in Pinar del Río. Granma reports that 4,776 have been rebuilt and another 620 are in the process of being completed, but the company says it will need at least another year to recover from Ian.

As such, Cuba officials say, given the limitations, they are focusing on farmers and plots of land that have proven track records in an effort to try to get the maximum result.

While tobacco is grown in other areas of the country, Pinar del Río, a province located in the westernmost part of the island, provides roughly two-thirds of the country’s total tobacco crop. For Cuban cigars, Pinar del Río is even more important compared to other provinces, which grow other types of tobacco for products like cigarettes.

Osvaldo Santana Vera of Tabacuba is quoted as saying the 2024-2025 crop is targeted at 14,000 hectares.

Images via Hirochi Robaina (h/t TD)