XAVIER INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BHUBANESWAR

Ecosystem & Sustainability Management

Organic Farming in Cuba
Term paper - Final draft

Submitted To: Prof. C. Shambu Prasad

Submitted By: Group 9, Section A

Dr. Omprakash Singh (29) Himanshu Rai (17) Gaurish Manerkar (16)
PGDM RM (II)

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Geography..................................................................................................................................................... 3 History ........................................................................................................................................................... 3 Consequences of Mono culture Agriculture ................................................................................................. 6 Land Reforms- ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Agro ecology- Applying the principles of ecology in agriculture .......................................................... 7 Participation of Population in Agriculture- ............................................................................................... 8 Indicators of change.................................................................................................................................... 11 Learning for India ........................................................................................................................................ 16 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................. 17 References .................................................................................................................................................. 18

Introduction
Cuba is an archipelago of islands located in the northern Caribbean Sea at the confluence with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. According to the 2002 census, Cuba's population was 11,177,743. The population of Cuba was 11,241,161 people on December 31, 2010.

Geography
Land use (2005) arable land: permanent crops: other: 27.63% 6.54% 65.83%

Irrigated land

8,700 sq km (2003)

History
The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 assisted the Cubans in overthrowing Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence from the US in 1902 after which the island experienced a string of governments mostly dominated by the military and corrupt politicians. Fidel Castro led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He stepped down as president in February 2008 in favor of his younger brother Raul Castro. The country faced a severe economic downturn in 1990 following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba at times portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source if its difficulties. (Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/cu.html )

Cuba's agricultural history can be divided into five periods, reflecting Cuban history in general:

Precolonial (before 1492) Spanish colonial (14921902) United States Neocolonial (19021958) Socialist Cuba, pre-Socialist bloc collapse (19591989) Socialist Cuba, post-Socialist bloc collapse (1989present)

United States Neocolonial (19021958) (Source: http://migratio.cesga.es/article_41.pdf ) In 1898 Cuba was a country with a very open economy and a great capacity for expansion, due to the availability of resources -mainly soil in ideal conditions to produce sugar- and to their great competitive capacity in the world market. This economic outlook clashed with a demographic deficit, due, to the departure of Spaniards after the war. There were pro-immigration policies carried out, which were directed, above all, to European countries and specially Spain, and the later change of focus towards certain countries in the West Indies, given the reticence of Spaniards towards taking up agricultural tasks of the sugar harvest, which induced a logical increase in the salaries of agricultural workers. Cuba thus received a great amount of emigrants Spanish origin, between 1902 and 1934 roughly around 735,000 Spaniards came to Cuba. Cuba also received a considerable amount of immigrants from Jamaica and Haiti, around 320,000. There were people who had jobs -especially in the urban world- with rather elevated salaries but the job market in Cuba was becoming progressively restricted, and an important structural unemployment arose, particularly after World War Two. The sugar-based economy came to a standstill and the other sectors, confronted with the trade unions, gave priority to investment on capital rather than investment on labour. Socialist Cuba, pre-Socialist bloc collapse (19591989) (Source: https://www.foodfirst.org/files/bookstore/pdf/promisedland/12.pdf ) After the 1959 triumph of the revolution, Cuba implemented agrarian reforms. Under the first and second agrarian reform laws the Cuban state took control of more than 70 percent of the arable land and created the state sector in agriculture. The area nationalized reached 5.5 million hectares, of which 1.1 million were turned over to those working the land, leaving the state in control of approximately 71 percent of the total area. The existence of the large state sector made a planned reorganization of land use possible (Vilario and Domenech 1986). When the United States cancelled Cubas sugar quotaone of the first actions taken against the Cuban revolutionit was decided, given the diversification policy, to reduce the area under sugarcane. Nevertheless, the ex-Soviet Union and the rest of the socialist countries in Eastern Europe decided to purchase Cuban sugar in bulk, thus creating a secure market, with long-term

stable and preferential prices. This led to a decision to reconsider the reduction of area devoted to sugarcane, thus prolonging dependence on a one-product farming system. The policy directions followed in the first years of the revolution regarding the use of nationalized land were clearly expressed by Fidel Castro at the closing session of the First Farm Workers Congress in February 1959: To maintain consumption, to maintain abundance, to carry out agrarian reforms, the land cannot be distributed in one million small pieces . . . cooperatives must be established in the right places for each type of production, and the crops to be sown must be planned . . . (Castro 1959). The National Institute for Agrarian Reform (INRA) was created to be in charge of the application and enforcement of the agrarian reform law. When the agricultural enterprises were created in 1963 to organize state production, there were approximately 272 peoples state farms, 613 sugarcane cooperatives, and 669 administrative farms (formed directly from expropriated plantations). By the end of 1964, 263 new enterprises had been established. During the period from the first agrarian reform law until 1975, no important changes occur in the collective organization of production among small landholders, except for the creation of credit and service cooperatives (CCSs) and agricultural communities. Then, at the Fifth Congress of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), following up on decisions made at the First Congress of the Cuban Communist Party, the collectively run agricultural production cooperatives (CPAs) were created. By 1998 some 1,139 cooperatives of this type had been formed, covering some 710,000 hectares (an average of approximately 625 hectares per cooperative), and with more than 63,000 members. Development of the CCSs continued as well; they now cover some 980,000 hectares and have more than 168,000 members. Finally, there are approximately 250 farmers associations (more loosely organized than CPAs or CCSs) with more than 9,400 members, covering an area of more than 26,000 hectares. At the end of the 1980s, however, there was a generalized decrease in yields and in other indicators of efficiency in an important group of commodities. This came about in an intensive development model, based on high levels of external inputs and a high external dependence (mainly machinery, fuel, and agrochemicals), that was similar to the situation faced by other countries applying the same production model (Rosset 1997a, 1997b, 1997c). Furthermore, the quantities produced were not always sufficient to fully cover the demands of the population with any economic effectiveness. Meanwhile a very significant proportion of arable land was used for export production and many soils had begun to show signs of degradation (such as salinity, erosion, acidity, poor drainage). These factors already made it important to carry out economic, structural, technical, and organizational transformations in Cuban agriculture. The Crisis of the European Socialist Bloc: The Special Period in Cuba In 1989 an acute crisis erupted in Cuba when the European socialist countries collapsed and the Soviet Union disintegrated, and, simultaneously, the United States tightened the economic blockade of Cuba. In 1992 the Torricelli bill was approved, barring shipments to Cuba of food and medical supplies by overseas subsidiaries of US companies, and, later, the Helms-Burton Act (1996) restricted foreign investment in Cuba.

Cuba is neither blessed with abundant capital nor with sufficient domestic energy supplies. Prior to 1989 more than 85 percent of the countrys trade was with socialist countries in Europe, and a little more than 10 percent with capitalist countries. Cuba imported from socialist countries twothirds of its foodstuffs, almost all of its fuel, and 80 percent of its machinery and spare parts.. The Crisis of the European Socialist Bloc: The Special Period in Cuba With the crisis, Cubas purchasing capacity was reduced to 40 percent, fuel importation to approximately 33 percent, fertilizers to 25 percent, pesticides to 40 percent, animal feed concentrates to 30 percent. All agricultural activities were seriously affected. Suddenly, US$8 billion a year disappeared from Cuban trade. Between 1989 and 1993, the Cuban GNP fell from US$19.3 to $10.0 billion. Imports were reduced by 75 percent, including most foodstuffs, spare parts, agrochemicals, and industrial equipment. Since 1993, the Cuban Government has given priority to increasing food production and restructuring industry. Signs have begun to emerge that the new economic model is taking hold and labour markets are recovering.

Consequences of Mono culture Agriculture

Before going to the so called organic revolution, we want to take into account what was left with Cuba as a result of the pre-revolution agriculture. The lands in beginning of 1980s started demanding more pesticides and fertilizers for further production at same level. It was observed by the researchers due to heavy use of chemicals and mono crop the land productivity has decreased by 30%. The land become infertile, one million hectares of land was salinized. The other lands were at different stages of degradation. The forest and biodiversity was severely affected. The rural population was decreased with from 56% to 28% due to heavy migrations. The food crisis was at its peak, in 1980s to 1990s. The foods were import oriented; Cuba was dependent on other countries for 57% of protein requirement and nearly 50 % of its calorie requirement on Soviet Union. The average calorie intake was 2092 as compared to 2750, the standard set by the Cuban Gov. History of Policy Reforms After the crisis in 1991, the government focused itself in massive reforms in agriculture sector. The main principles of reforms were Strengthening agrarian policy through widespread decentralization of land holdings

& management Diversification of agricultural production and the transformation of land tenure of State lands. Participation of the population in agricultural activities for their own nutritional improvement.

Encouraging the creation of auto-consumes or on-site farms/gardens to supply dining halls of residential and educational establishments. Promotion of sustainable development compatible with the environment. Reduction of post-harvest losses through improved methods, such as direct sales of food from producers to consumers in the cities (e.g. urban agriculture). Incorporation of nutritional objectives in programs and plans of agricultural development.

Cuba has 2% Population of Latin America but 11% of their scientist populations The main reforms were ----

Land ReformsThe primary goals of the Cuban Revolution to bring about the agriculture reforms through land reforms started in 1959, with taking the lands which is concentrated to few natives and many of the foreigners mainly Americans. The land transferred to the peasants on free rent basis, the further Land Reforms in 1963, which limited the ownership of land to 67 Hectares per individuals. Although the land reforms helped the farmers to own the land and remove exploitation by the large farmers but the agriculture remains the same, i.e. monoculture and heavily dependent on the inputs supplied from outsides mainly the soviet unions. Mainly export oriented, because Gov has to funds its current war and development, and fuel requirement and only sugar, coffee, tobacco etc was the source available inland. The Gov has also pressure from COMECON (Council for Mutual Assistance)- the economic block of socialist countries of Europe to fulfill their needs for these items. Cuba was also heavily dependent on them for low cost inputs for agriculture and other food items. Nearly 84% of imports and exports took place with these countries. But this was the beginning of diversification of agriculture. The farmers had limited rights to cultivate other crops for their own use.

Agro ecology- Applying the principles of ecology in agriculture

Before the reforms the agriculture in Cuba is similar to the industrial agriculture i.e., the lands are over utilized by the application of technology and inputs like high doses of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides to increase the production of single crop. This is similar to the assembly line production of goods in agriculture we called as monoculture. Cuba as stated earlier destination for producing sugar and tobacco, but it fails to feed its own population although it was a sweetening agent for the wests. When the iron curtain falls, there is limited or no supply of these inputs from the major Soviet Union. At that time Cuba was in perplexing situation and the conditions became worst. This period 1990-1994 is called as the special period as Cubans economy was most hit; the US embargo further helps in making the situation worst. Cuba has a group of scientists, extension workers and researchers, which are prior to reforms are limited to their fields, but after 1994 when government focused on agro ecological technology for improvement of agriculture, these groups are reoriented towards the development of agriculture implementation package. The message of agro ecology was oriented from the farmers

which they understand and helped in propagation of the knowledge and further value addition to it. Here in agro ecology the scientific organic methods of pest control like using flowers in the fields to attract the pests, use of multi-cropping along with nitrogen fixing leguminous plants for nitrogen supplementation of non-leguminous plants, and use of farm manure is intensified. The tractors are replaced by the animal traction. Various customized crop charts and plans are developed for the local area. The emphasis was not only given to increase the production but also on diversification of crops to meet the local needs and reduce the transportation.

Participation of Population in AgricultureIt was the need of time to participate in some sort of food production because the Gov was helpless in importing the food items. The population started cultivating what they can produce for themselves and the era of serendipity and experimentation started, the peasants applied the age old practices of agriculture with modern technology. The spread of message of self reliant through agriculture helped in large participation of farmers in agriculture development, although the promotion of agriculture cooperatives by Gov, do play the role but the culture of farmers to farmers learning was measure success in dissipating the knowledge of success and failures they call it Campesino a Campesino means peasant to peasant in Spanish. It is a bottom up horizontal mechanism, which started in Cuba as movement and spread to the other parts of Central America and Mexico. UBPC The Government passed the law for UBPC (Unidad Basica de Produccion Cooperativa), or Basic Unit of Cooperative Production, as a type of agricultural cooperative on 20 Sept 1993. The main functions of UBPC are produce a single or combination of crops in cooperatives. There were different types of UBPCs were formed by the interested farmers, like livestock UBPCs, Sugar UBPCs, Citrus UBPCs etc. The Gov enabled these UBPCs through providing equal land rights for indefinite period, enabling them to take credits from banks and sell their produce in Gov market or other markets. The performances of UBPCs are calculated by return on investments and comparing them with other similar UBPCs operated in the same area. The lands in UBPCs are further divided at farmer levels to manage them properly. The farmers are paid on the basis of efficiency and not on the basis of timesheet, while the state still owns the land. Through these UBPCs the state has transferred 42% of its lands to 2007 cooperatives across the state, which has the membership of around 122,000. The farmers has to pay a 3% tax to these UBPCs and 5% tax to state from the production. The Gov is trying to provide full autonomy to farmers, through more rights on land so that they can bequeath the land to their next genera. Private farms The private farmers were also encouraged to form CPAs or CCS small agricultural cooperatives, which are more autonomous then the UBPCs. In CPAs the land owners donate their land to cooperatives and become a member of that. Apart from the major UBPCs the Cuba has 10 organizations in agriculture sector both in state promoted like UBPCs, CPAs and non state promoted like CCS.

GAO The Peoples initiative from the urban farmers in time of crisis leads to formation of many institutions in which the GAO Grupo de Agricultura Organica, Cuba was major which was founded as Association of Organic farmers (ACAO), Cuba in 1993. The name later changed to GAO when Fidel Castro banned the organization seeing it as threat to his political career and socialism, although the organizations only focus was on dissipating the knowledge of organic agriculture to other part of country through arranging workshops, visits, farmers training etc. The ACAO puts massive campaigns in Cuba for promoting the organic agriculture, because there was a fear that, the organic revolution here is temporary and may vanish in near future due to state policies. In a sort span of time it has acquired memberships of farmers, scientists, researchers and extension agents who actively take part in promoting organic agriculture. The organization has local chapters in many part of the province. Apart from that they also promoted exemplary organic farms for mutual learning. The organization focused heavily on documentation and promotion of organic sustainable agriculture in other part of the world. They also helped in starting a course in Agroecology in Havana University in which 500 students has enrolled till date. They are also helping in framing policies to retain this organic revolution in sustainable manner. For their exemplary work for sustainable agriculture, they were awarded with Right Livelihood Award in 1999, which is also called as alternative NOBEL.

1. Markets In 1994 the Gov has opened 121 markets just to curb the black marketing of food grains and provide fair price to the farmers. These markets functions on the law of supply and demand. They identified that the main culprits were the distributors, who own trucks and charge heavily for transportation. Presently Gov is also providing better transportation facilities from farm to market.

2. Urban Agriculture The crisis in Cuba in early 90s mostly affected the food in Urban area as we have noted earlier that the food were the major imported items nearly to 80% of total requirement. The Urban dwellers were largely dependent on the food supplied in the market from the rural area and majorly from the imports, the burgeoning prices of food items due shortage makes inaccessible to the population, so at that time some city dwellers started to produce some sort of vegetables in whatever the space they have in near or outside their houses called as huertos or gardens. Some people even utilized their balconies, porches and back side of house for vegetable and other food productions. The main objectives to promote Urban Agriculture were Uniform distribution throughout the country (i.e. in every area of the country with an urban population, urban agriculture should be developed)

Local consumption by the urban population of local production in each region Crop-animal integration with maximum synergy (i.e. internal cycling of nutrients) to boost production Intensive use of organic matter to increase and conserve soil fertility Employment of biological pest controls Use of all available land to produce food, guaranteeing intensive but not importdependent high yields of crops and livestock Multidisciplinary integration and intensive application of science and technology A fresh supply of good quality products offered directly to the population, guaranteeing a balanced production of not less than 300g of vegetables daily per capita and an adequate variety of animal protein Maximum use of the food production potential, such as the available labor force and the recycling of wastes and by-products for plant nutrients and animal feed

These principle objectives leads to a revolution of urban agriculture that too organic. The gardens were in the range of five sq m to 3 hectares in Havana only. They rarely use chemicals, in their field the farmers focused themselves in the use of compost and vermin compost produce locally, and they also use combination of leguminous (like beans) and non leguminous crops in the plots. The Gov at that time join hands of people with providing the urban lands parcelos or small plots to parcelors i.e. urban farmers. Raul Castro once visited the Army Horticulture unit in 1987 and there, he noticed, the Organoponicos which are rectangular walled constructions- roughly thirty meters in length and one meter in breadth containing raised beds of mixture of organic material and soil. He found it a major innovation for agriculture in urban area in limited lands and the first organoponicos was started in 1991 in Havana. Soon the concept spread and majority of the urban land come under agriculture. The government further created an Urban Agriculture Department (UAD) in 1994, to facilitate the process in other urban cities of Cuba. The UAD helped in organizing various farmers club, who exchange their knowledge and learn from each other. The department also helped in marketing of products and providing valuable inputs like seeds and technical knowledge. In the initial days the per sq metre production was 18 kg of food which grown up to 27 kg. Now some farmers are able to feed themselves and their neighbor hoods. The incomes of some urban farmers were better than the medical practitioners. Some of the farmer organizes themselves in cooperatives, with or without a collectively cultivated, in jointly held area, called as Credit and Services Cooperative (CCS). These CCS helped in arranging credits for agriculture and typically brought together plots and willing pre-existing private farms in one umbrella. The urban agriculture helped in food crisis and managing the urban fellow lands which were earlier as garbage dumps. This helped in increasing the nutritional status of city dwellers and

provided a source of income to them. Presently Havana the pioneer in urban agriculture able to meet the 80% needs of food items through the local production.

Can Cuba Protect its Organic Agriculture?

The recent developments in economy of Cuba like opening of trades with other countries lie Venezuela may flush the country with cheap oils which may challenge the current organic revolution. There is also a threat of flooding of Cuban markets from the cheap food items from the Americans which may diminish the demands of organic food which is costly. What we are going to see are indicators of change as policy changes are macro in the nature.

Indicators of change
When Cuba faced the shock of lost trade relations with the Soviet Bloc in the early 1990s, food production initially collapsed due to the loss of imported fertilizers, pesticides, tractors, parts, and petroleum. The situation was so bad that Cuba posted the worst growth in per capita food production in all of Latin America and the Caribbean. But the island rapidly re-oriented its agriculture to depend less on imported synthetic chemical inputs, and became a world-class case of ecological agriculture. This was such a successful turnaround that Cuba rebounded to show the best food production performance in Latin America and the Caribbean over the following period, a remarkable annual growth rate of 4.2 percent per capita from 1996 through 2005, a period in which the regional average was 0 percent. One of the major factors that contributed to this achievement was the formation of local agricultural markets and the existence of strong grassroots organizations supporting farmersfor example, the National Association of Small Scale Farmers (ANAP, Asociacin Nacional de Agricultores Pequeos), the Cuban Association of Animal Production (ACPA, Asociacin Cubana de Produccin Animal), and the Cuban Association of Agricultural and Forestry Technicians (ACTAF, Asociacin Cubana de Tcnicos Agrcolas y Forestales)also contributed to this achievement. The most important changes that led to the recovery of the food sovereignty in Cuba occurred in the peasant sector, which in 2006 controlled only 25% of the agricultural land and contributed to 65% of the countrys food.

Source: http://data.worldbank.org/country/CUBA It is said that the periods of sanction, which Cubans very peculiarly mention as the special period, were so bad that an average Cuban had lost 20% of his weight during this period. The GDP per capita for Cuba had plummeted during this period. The graph of the same is given below, where we see a clear dip in the graph during the years from 1991 to 1994. The problem is further evident by a close observation of other economic parameters. One of these parameters is the percent of agricultural land usage. The percentage of agricultural land use is given below:

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html As we see the percentage of agricultural land use attains a peak during the years of the soviet disintegration. Also it has risen sharply during the years 1986-1987. This refers to the period when Cuba was preparing for this exigency of the USSR disintegration. Another parameter worth observing is the Agricultural production in Cuba. During the period of the crisis, the same can be given as follows:

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html The agricultural production takes a dip between the years 1991 to 1993. But the interesting thing to note here is that it does tend to rise again after the year 1995. This period mainly corresponds to the era when the seeds of organic farming had started boring fruits. This production increase came despite using 72 percent fewer agricultural chemicals in 2007 than in 1988. Similar patterns can be seen for other peasant crops like beans, roots, and tubers. Cubas achievements in urban agriculture are truly remarkablethere are 383,000 urban farms, covering 50,000 hectares of otherwise unused land and producing more than 1.5 million tons of vegetables with top urban farms reaching a yield of 20 kg/m2 per year of edible plant material using no synthetic chemicalsequivalent to a hundred tons per hectare. Urban farms supply 70 percent or more of all the fresh vegetables consumed in cities such as Havana and Villa Clara. The following table illustrated this idea better.

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html

Also as far as Cubas food import dependency is concerned, even though many concerns were raised about the same, that 84% of the food in Cuba being imported, the reality remains fairly different. The following graph actually shows that Cubas food import dependency has been dropping for decades, despite brief upturns due to natural and human-made disasters. The best time series available on Cuban food import dependency shows that it actually declined between 1980 and 1997, aside from a spike in the early 1990s, when trade relations with the former Socialist Bloc collapsed.

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html However a second and a more detailed view of the import dependency of food bring out a different picture. Following is a graph giving a food item wise breakup of import dependency. It is as follows:

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html Success stories are evident in eggs, sweeteners and sea food. But vegetable oils, oil crops and cereals present a different story. Cuba has been generally able to adequately feed its people. But the claims that it has been making about achieving complete food sufficiency and a complete independence from inorganic methods of growing food, are open to debate. So has the organic revolution really been successful in Cuba?

While comparing population growth with the people employed in the agriculture sector, the trend shows continuous decrease of the population engaging in the agriculture sector. Series 1 consist of Agricultural population (in 000) and Series 2 consist of Non-agricultural population (in 000).
12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0

Series1 Series2

1980

1995

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html The annual series cover the period 1980-2010. The total population series have been obtained from the UN Population Division, which prepares estimates and projections of the total population from 1980 and give estimated project of 2020. Capital stock includes Government Expenditures in Agriculture and Foreign Direct Investment in Agriculture that has happened over period of time. There is constant downfall of the capital stock invested in agriculture from 1970s till now showing more private investment.

Gross Capital Stock (constant 2005 prices)

31000 29000 27000 25000 23000 21000 19000 17000 15000 Year 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 Gross Capital Stock (constant 2005 prices)

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html Fertilizer consumption: Yields for major food crops also dropped because of a lack of imported fertilizer. The economic decline has increased the number of people relying on subsidies while reducing productivity and food intake for many workers and their families.

2017

1980

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

700000 600000 500000 400000 300000 200000 100000 0 Year 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 Consumption of Fertilizers (tonnes) Production of Fertilizers (tonnes) Import Quantity (tonnes)

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html

Learning for India

One of the major objectives to study this topic is to assess whether a similar model can be implemented in India. But a country like Cuba with such a highly intensive agricultural background and past communist labour fervor is unable to feed its population of 11 million solely on the basis of organic farming. Then can a country like India with its extreme diversity and dwindling agricultural focus manage to feed 121 million people? The Cuban model is commendable. But we believe that for it to be practically implementable and achieve the kind of results that were envisaged, there need to be many changes in this model. So maybe Cuba has done exceptional work as far forming cooperatives, agro-ecology and stirring the ship on the 1991 sharp curve is concerned; but there is still a long way to go before it can present the world a future model of agriculture in the latter half of the 21st century. The macro economic variables are good but cant be used to study radical movements at the fringes. Hence making any general macro level change in Indian environment is impossible. Yes we can adapt few good practices:
1- Organopnicos

are a system of urban organic gardens in Cuba. They often consist of low-level concrete walls filled with organic matter and soil, with lines of drip irrigation laid on the surface of the growing media. The gardens can buy key materials such as organic composts, seeds and irrigation parts, as well as "biocontrols" such as beneficial insects and plant-based oils that work as pesticides from the government Unlike Cuba, where organopnicos arose from the bottom-up out of necessity, the Indian organopnicos will be clearly either a top-down initiative or elite gardens. 2- With the heavy usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, few states of India such as Punjab and Haryana are have impacted adversely. With the water level salinized by excessive irrigation and sterilized with methyl bromide, and as pests become ever more resistant to pesticides, crop

yields decline and aquifers and estuaries become contaminated with agrochemical run-off. Organic farming can be tried out there in collaboration with agriculture Universities to bring 2nd green revolution. 3- Research priorities needs to undergo transformation in our Agricultural Universities. So far crop varieties were being evolved looking into its fertiliser-response, photo-period insensitivity and the application of chemical pesticides. From inorganic crop breeding, research focus should now shift to organic breeding where varieties are developed in response to the availability of nutrients in organic form. These varieties have also to respond to climate change that stares ahead. Multiple cropping systems, incorporating dairy cattle, need adequate emphasis. Science must cater to the changing consumer needs rather than remain driven by industry interests.

Conclusions
This has definitely been an important case as far as people coming together and handling a national emergency is concerned. But can it serve as a success story to organic farming fans all over the world? With no fertilizer, pesticide, or herbicide, and no means to import substitute chemicals, many in the scientific community landed on agro-ecology. To understand what agro-ecology is, it helps first to understand why todays agriculture is called industrial. Modern farming turns fields into factories. Inorganic fertilizer adds nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous to the soil; pesticides kill anything that crawls; herbicides nuke anything green and unwantedall to create an assembly line that spits out a single crop. This is modern monoculture. Agro-ecology uses natures far more complex systems to do the same thing more efficiently and without the chemistry set. Nitrogen-fixing beans are grown instead of inorganic fertilizer; flowers are used to attract beneficial insects to manage pests; weeds are crowded out with more intensive planting. The result is a sophisticated polyculturethat is, it produces many crops simultaneously, instead of just one. In Cuba, peasants encouraged scientists to adopt this approach. One of their most important ideas, borrowed from elsewhere in Central America, was a model of knowledge diffusion called Campesino a Campesinopeasant to peasant. Farmers share their results and ideas with one another and with scientists, which has helped agro-ecological systems spread. The Cuban vice minister of the economy and planning ministry reportedly said in February 2007 that 84 percent of the countrys food was importednot terribly encouraging, if we are looking at Cuba to foretell our agricultural future. But a recent paper by UC-Berkeleys Miguel A. Altieri and the University of Matanzas Fernando R. Funes-Monzote suggests that while the country still imports almost all its wheat (a crop that doesnt do well in the Caribbean), it now produces the majority of its fresh fruit and vegetableseven much of its meat. In 2007, Cubans produced more food while using one-quarter of the chemicals as they did in 1988. Despite the indisputable advances of sustainable agriculture in Cuba and evidence of the effectiveness of alternatives to the monoculture model, interest persists among some leaders in high external input systems with sophisticated and expensive technological packages. With the pretext of guaranteeing food security and reducing food imports, these specific programs

pursue maximization of crop and livestock production and insist on going back to monoculture methodsand therefore dependent on synthetic chemical inputs, large scale machinery, and irrigationdespite proven energy inefficiency and technological fragility. In fact, many resources are provided by international cooperation (i.e., from Venezuela) dedicated to protect or boost agricultural areas where a more intensive agriculture is practiced for crops like potatoes, rice, soybean, and vegetables. These protected areas for large-scale, industrial-style agricultural production represent less than 10 percent of the cultivated land. Millions of dollars are invested in pivot irrigation systems, machinery, and other industrial agricultural technologies: a seductive model which increases short-term production but generates high long-term environmental and socioeconomic costs, while replicating a model that failed even before 1990. It is quite evident that no matter how glorious the Cuban story is, the nation still feels the heat and struggles to feed its entire population.

References
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