Cuban tobacco. Photo: Internet.
The fundamental objective of the genetic improvement of tobacco is to obtain varieties with resistance to the main diseases, which affect this crop in the territory. Improving yield potential and the development of ancillary outbreaks is a serious difficulty for producers.
The Tobacco Research Institute, located in San Antonio de los Baños, provides farmers with a series of elements, allowing them to select the varieties that best meet their production objectives. The Credit and Services Cooperative (CCS) Ernesto Che Guevara benefits from this service, thanks to the task assumed by several producers in the tobacco industry.
Yereiny Guzmán Herrera, president of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) in Ariguanabo, said that they are linked with the Grain Institute and the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, centers that provide much in order to prepare and train peasants through the exchange of experiences and their generalization in the productions, besides certifying the quality of the seed.