PROSPECTS FOR THE 1963 CUBAN SUGAR CROP

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP79T00429A001100010030-1
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
S
Document Page Count: 
2
Document Creation Date: 
December 20, 2016
Document Release Date: 
October 13, 2006
Sequence Number: 
30
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 25, 1963
Content Type: 
MEMO
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PDF icon CIA-RDP79T00429A001100010030-1.pdf97.47 KB
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25x1,, Approved For Release 2 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Office of Current Intelligence 25 January 1963 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM[ SUBJECTo Prospects for the 1963 Cuban Sugar Crop to From an analysis of a variety of available information, including the public statements of Castro regime leaders themselves, we estimate that the 1963 Cuban sugar crop will amount to somewhat less than last year?s poor crop of 408 million meta ric tons> How much less Cuba will produce this year depends on a number of variable factors, including the weather, the number and efficiency of the sugar workers involved, and the regime?s degree of success in maintaining its largely worn-out sugar mill ma- shiner in an o erational statuso The islands normal hverage production in the pe- riod 1957-1961 was about 6 million metric tones 20 Reasons for the expected short crop this year include the diversion of former cane lands to other uses in the last two or three years; the failure of the regime to devote enough attention t?~ new planting and fertilization in those years the severe drought of 1962; and the damaging of the cane by inexperienced cutters in the last two harvestso Che Guevarag Carlos Rafael Rodriguez9 and Cuban sa~gar industry officials have admitted that the regime has made serious mistakes in the management of the sugar industryo The most serious of these errars have been the de~emphasis of c~.ne cultivation in the interests of agricultural diver- sification and industrializationa and the regime?s failure to eliminate agricultural disorganizatione In recognition of these mistakesq intensive efforts were begun as early as last summer to bring in a Approved Far Release 2006/10113: CIA-RaP79T00429A001100010030-1 ` Approved For Release ~ crop of at least 6.5 million tons in the 1964 sugar seasan. This program is also behind schedule; last year, according to a Cuban broadcast of 19 January, the regime reached only 83.4 percent of its goal for planting new cane ~i.e. cane which will mature for the 1964 crop), Another question mark in both this year's and next year's production is the degree of success Cuba will achieve in its current efforts to develop and use automatic cane cutting and load- ing machinery. 3. This year's harvest is just beginning to get well under way. t~nly 50 of Cuba's 152 oper- ational sugar mi11s had begun grinding by 22 Jan- uary, according to Radio Havana. Cuban officials are already urging the populace to " their services in the canefields. Approved For Release 2006/10113: CIA-RDP79T00429A001100010030-1