Havana, Cuba.-Cuba has expected to reach a 12-percent rise in sugar production during the current harvest compared with the plan of the previous campaign, a source in the sector said.

Dionis Perez, director of Information Technology and Analysis at Azcuba Sugar Group, told Prensa Latina that the Harlem sugar mill in Artemisa province is currently in operation, the first one to start milling in the country, while the Jesus Rabbi and Hector Molina sugar mills, also in western region, will begin operations in coming days.

According to Perez, about 54 factories will participate in this harvest, 45 of which will be in operation before ending December, and the remaining nine will begin operations in January.

The director also stated that the Colombia and Panama sugar mills, in central and eastern region of the country, will join to this campaign, so that only two of the 56 existing ones after the process of restructuring the agricultural industry remain to join to this productive task.

He considered that there is enough cane to achieve the expected sugar growth, and other favorable conditions such as the purchase of new equipment with mats and allow performing the work in conditions of humidity of the fields.

Cuba has long been the world’s largest sugar cane exporter, and this industry, the country’s former main sector, is seeking its gradual recovery.

The previous campaign, in which the plan was not fulfilled, was seriously affected by excessive rains due to the El Niño meteorological phenomenon and industrial inefficiency in a group of territories, among other objective and subjective difficulties.