El Frutal farm is the Eden of the Hidalgo brothers, a paradisiacal place that is inserted into the tourist product of the municipality of Banes, in Holguín province, because it is an agroecological destination, where visitors can appreciate how the peasant family makes the land produce through using ecological practices in a rural and sound environment, although this was not always the case.
Living off of agriculture is one of the challenges for men in the Cuban countryside, who face unfavorable climatic conditions, infertile lands, shortages of agricultural equipment, fertilizers, pesticides and highly genetic seeds, conditions that crops need to be sustainable.
But, despite all these shortcomings, Ramón Hidalgo Paz, an agricultural engineer by profession, decided, supported by his family, to put into practice agroecological techniques to make his infertile, fourth-category lands more productive, by identifying soil degradation as the main factor of their low productivity.
In addition, El Frutal farm was one of the structures chosen to develop the Soil, Water and Forest Polygon of the cooperative “Antonio Maceo” in Banes, by the Ministry of Agriculture in Holguín, and also selected for the intervention of the international project Soluciones Economic-Environmental, Ecovalor.
Ecovalor project
Land cultivation, Finca El Frutal, Holguín
According to Ramón, these lands previously only produced 0.3 tons per hectare, after applying a system of techniques to stop soil degradation and having a series of equipment, they achieved results of more than 0.8 tons per hectare in dry land, in addition to a variety of crops, which favors the family economy and the delivery of food to the community.
“We are inserted within the Ecovalor project by applying agroecological techniques in the use and conservation of soils and in environmental practices to protect nature, providing greater productive, economic and human and animal health benefits.”
For Ramón, returning nutrients to the soil is essential to increase its productivity, since they are eroded by the climate and because the geography with its slopes and intense rains sweep away the fertile layer of these lands and reduce their yield. To counteract this situation, he explained that they apply dead barriers, live barriers, use organic fertilizers, worm castings, among other alternatives.
The intervention of this project has served to expand his experience in the use of agroecological techniques in the use of soils, increase production, economic gains and humanize work, which contributes to making Ramón’s dream of having mechanization come true, so necessary agricultural implements.
In this sense, the project donated equipment such as a tractor with a loader and a dump cart to water the organic matter and a bean harvester that have made it possible to speed up the work and increase efficiency.
He thanks the project for the scientific training and the possibility of learning about the agroecological practices that are developed in various parts of the country, expanding his knowledge. “I have been able to see places that I never dreamed of, I wish this project had a second part.”
The earth gives us everything and takes everything from us
Hidalgo, from a peasant family, with devotion to agriculture and defender of nature, is convinced that human beings are primarily responsible for taking care of our contaminated planet, protecting the environment from their area of action. Farmers are not exempt from this commitment.
“There are things that do not depend on man, they depend on nature, but we can stop many processes such as erosion; the misuse that is made of the soil, both in its preparation and in crop rotation; the misuse that is made of river channels and drainages; the indiscriminate felling and burning of trees; among other practices that affect our planet.”
“I feel fulfilled,” said Ramón, “I have worked on several projects such as varieties and seeds, bi-plants, but I never thought I would be in a project as extensive as EcoValor that has benefited agriculture so much, and I would like this type of project to be expanded, in this area there is a saying that says: if we do not know how to take care of the soil, we do not know how to take care of ourselves, because the earth gives us everything and takes everything from us.
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