Sancti Spiritus, Cuba.-Cuban tobacco producers from the central province of Sancti Spiritus, the 2nd largest producer of tobacco in the island, are showing good production numbers in their 2017 harvest despite the drought with more than 3,400 tons of tobacco leaves picked.

Data from the local Tobacco Stocking and Benefit Company said the number of tons represent a growth of 200 tons compared to the year before, even when the drought affected 970 of 3,200 hectares that were cultivated.

This is the third consecutive year that Sancti Spiritus reaches the 2nd place as a tobacco producer in the island, after the western province of Pinar del Rio, the largest producer.

Recognized as the best of the world, the cultivation of Cuban tobacco is a bearer of ancestral traditions originated from the pre-Columbian times and enriched with the existing climatic conditions in Cuba.

Specially in the central area of the island the municipality of Cabaiguán stands out for its fertile lands and the quality of the tobacco leaves that it harvests.

This municipality contributed with more than half of the whole provincial production.

According to local weekly newspaper Escambray the authorities of the TabaCuba Group are working in advance to minimizing the effects caused by the scarcity of rain.