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DW
2 hours ago
- Business
- DW
Cuba land lease to Vietnamese company reaps rich harvest – DW – 07/30/2025
Cuba has let farmland to a foreign company for the first time since its 1959 revolution, when all foreign landowners were expropriated. But can the Vietnamese investor help rescue the island's struggling agriculture? With a deep rumble, the massive threshing wheel of the rice harvester pushes through the tightly packed green stalks. The plants vanish into the belly of the machine, where rice grains are separated from their husks and the straw is tossed back onto the field. A few workers watch the process from the field's edge. After a few rounds, the combine harvester moves to the side and transfers the harvested rice through a long pipe into the bed of a waiting truck — then it heads back out again. It's harvest time on the fields of Los Palacios, a sleepy small town in the southeastern part of Cuba's Pinar del Rio province. The silos and an aging rice mill shimmer in the glaring sun on the horizon, and what looks like a picturesque postcard scene could prove crucial for Cuba's food security. The fields near Los Palacios belong to the Cubanacan farm, run by the state-owned enterprise Empresa Agroindustrial de Granos Los Palacios. In the wake of Fidel Castro's successful Communist revolution in 1959, all foreign landowners were expropriated. But last year, the Cuban government took an unprecedented step by granting a foreign company the right to cultivate farmland on the Communist islands. The first foreign company to be granted a lease on a stretch of farmland was Vietnamese Agri VMA, a privately held agriculture company that is growing rice near Los Palacios. Still owned by the Cuban state, the farmland lease to the Vietnamese investor is tied to a prolonged crisis in the Cuban agricultural sector caused by an overall decline in the country's economy. Fertilizers, pesticides, fuel, and spare parts are in short supply and much of the equipment is outdated or broken. In addition, a rigid system of mandatory state quotas offers little incentive for enhancing production. What's also come into play recently are environmental factors, such as soil salinization, drought, and hurricanes, which have reduced crops driving Cuban agriculture even closer to the brink of collapse. Ariel Garcia Perez, general director of Empresa Agroindustrial de Granos, concedes that his company is currently lacking the kind of resources needed for cultivating rice. "I mean fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and also seeds — all essential for rice production," he told the DW reporter out on one of the company's rice fields that were being harvested. Perez said that due to the shortages only about 6,000 hectares (14,826 acres) of rice fields are currently being cultivated, out of about 23,000 hectares that the company could cultivate in total. Rice is one of Cuba's staple foods. Last year, the country produced about 80,000 tons of rice — just over 11% of its domestic demand. Six years ago, production was more than three times higher, according to official data published by the Cuban state newspaper recently. To meet domestic consumption, Cuba has had to increase imports. Under efforts to spur the domestic rice output, the Cuban government has asked Vietnam for help because the two countries have maintained friendly relations for decades, intensifying especially agricultuiral cooperation in recent years. For Perez, the Los Palacios project marks a entirely new level of partnership though. Privetely owned Agri VMA is managing the lease largely independent from state interference, with operations being based on a business contract. The company has brought to Cuba its own resources, technical experts, and seeds from hybrid rice varieties developed in Vietnam. Battered by ongoing US sanctions and, more recently, the collapse of tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuba is lacking the foreign currency reserves needed for such investments. The Vietnamese company has directly hired 40 Cuban workers for the undertaking — another first in a country where employment is typically mediated by state-run agencies. The rest of the farm workers needed are being provided by his company, says Perez. "We, as a Cuban company, provide services to the Vietnamese company. They pay us for working the land, harvesting the rice, drying it, and milling it." Vietnamese agricultural scientist Tran Trong Pai is one of six Vietnamese specialists involved in the project. "The Cuban workers here are doing a good job. But there's a shortage of fertilizers, so we brought everything with us," he told DW. The Cuban-Vietnamese partnership venture began last fall with a test phase covering 16 hectares planted with Vietnamese seeds. Meanwhile, Agri VMA has been granted so-called usufruct rights over 1,000 hectares of rice. Usufruct rights, refer to the legal right to use and enjoy the benefits of a property, even though the legal ownership of that property belongs to someone else. With more than 900 hectares under cultivation in 2025, the results so far are "encouraging," said Perez, attributing the success primarily to Vietnamese seeds and fertilizer. The first 44 hectares of the Los Palacios fields yielded 296 tons of paddy rice, which is 6.75 tons per hectare, and nearly four times the 1.7 tons per hectare harvested elsewhere in Cuba in 2024. Tran Trong Pai said the yield is not far from the eight tons per hectare typically achieved on large-scale farms in Vietnam. "We want to get even more yield here in Cuba, but this is our first time planting here. We're still learning about the soil and how much fertilizer we need to use." The harvested rice belongs to Agri VMA and the Cuban state purchases it. Garcia Perez argues the primary goal was to "replace imports." "We don't need to bring rice from Vietnam to Cuba. The rice stays here, and Cuba buys it from Vietnam. That's cheaper," he said. According to , Cuba spent more than $300 million (€259.8 million) last year on rice imports, which was a huge burden for the chronically cash-strapped state budget. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Rice imports not only incur purchasing and shipping costs. Due to the US embargo, it's often difficult to find shipping companies willing to deliver grain to Cuban ports because they risk punishment under sanctions laws. For Garcia Perez, the project is purely about agriculture, with Vietnam having the "resources and potential we must take advantage of," to create a "win-win situation." The farmland in Los Palacios has been leased to the Vietnamese company for a three-year term, and comprises initially 1,000 hectares that are planned to be expanded to 5,000 hectares. But Garcia Perez is already thinking much bigger, dreaming of the partnership with Vietnam being "extended to other Cuban provinces."
DW
6 hours ago
- Business
- DW
Cuba's first land lease to foreigners reaps bumper harvest – DW – 07/30/2025
Cuba has let farmland to a foreign company for the first time since the revolution in 1959. But can a Vietnamese investor help rescue the island's struggling agriculture — and feed a nation in crisis? With a deep rumble, the massive threshing wheel of the rice harvester pushes through the tightly packed green stalks. The plants vanish into the belly of the machine, where rice grains are separated from their husks and the straw is tossed back onto the field. A few workers watch the process from the field's edge. After a few rounds, the combine harvester moves to the side and transfers the harvested rice through a long pipe into the bed of a waiting truck — then it heads back out again. It's harvest time on the fields of Los Palacios, a sleepy small town in the southeastern part of Cuba's Pinar del Rio province. The silos and an aging rice mill shimmer in the glaring sun on the horizon, and what looks like a picturesque postcard scene could prove crucial for Cuba's food security. The fields near Los Palacios belong to the Cubanacan farm, run by the state-owned enterprise Empresa Agroindustrial de Granos Los Palacios. In the wake of Fidel Castro's successful Communist revolution in 1959, all foreign landowners were expropriated. But last year, the Cuban government took an unprecedented step by granting a foreign company the right to cultivate farmland on the Communist islands. The first foreign company to be granted a lease on a stretch of farmland was Vietnamese Agri VMA, a privately held agriculture company that is growing rice near Los Palacios. Still owned by the Cuban state, the farmland lease to the Vietnamese investor is tied to a prolonged crisis in the Cuban agricultural sector caused by an overall decline in the country's economy. Fertilizers, pesticides, fuel, and spare parts are in short supply and much of the equipment is outdated or broken. In addition, a rigid system of mandatory state quotas offers little incentive for enhancing production. What's also come into play recently are environmental factors, such as soil salinization, drought, and hurricanes, which have reduced crops driving Cuban agriculture even closer to the brink of collapse. Ariel Garcia Perez, general director of Empresa Agroindustrial de Granos, concedes that his company is currently lacking the kind of resources needed for cultivating rice. "I mean fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and also seeds — all essential for rice production," he told the DW reporter out on one of the company's rice fields that were being harvested. Perez said that due to the shortages only about 6,000 hectares (14,826 acres) of rice fields are currently being cultivated, out of about 23,000 hectares that the company could cultivate in total. Rice is one of Cuba's staple foods. Last year, the country produced about 80,000 tons of rice — just over 11% of its domestic demand. Six years ago, production was more than three times higher, according to official data published by the Cuban state newspaper recently. To meet domestic consumption, Cuba has had to increase imports. Under efforts to spur the domestic rice output, the Cuban government has asked Vietnam for help because the two countries have maintained friendly relations for decades, intensifying especially agricultuiral cooperation in recent years. For Perez, the Los Palacios project marks a entirely new level of partnership though. Privetely owned Agri VMA is managing the lease largely independent from state interference, with operations being based on a business contract. The company has brought to Cuba its own resources, technical experts, and seeds from hybrid rice varieties developed in Vietnam. Battered by ongoing US sanctions and, more recently, the collapse of tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuba is lacking the foreign currency reserves needed for such investments. The Vietnamese company has directly hired 40 Cuban workers for the undertaking — another first in a country where employment is typically mediated by state-run agencies. The rest of the farm workers needed are being provided by his company, says Perez. "We, as a Cuban company, provide services to the Vietnamese company. They pay us for working the land, harvesting the rice, drying it, and milling it." Vietnamese agricultural scientist Tran Trong Pai is one of six Vietnamese specialists involved in the project. "The Cuban workers here are doing a good job. But there's a shortage of fertilizers, so we brought everything with us," he told DW. The Cuban-Vietnamese partnership venture began last fall with a test phase covering 16 hectares planted with Vietnamese seeds. Meanwhile, Agri VMA has been granted so-called usufruct rights over 1,000 hectares of rice. Usufruct rights, refer to the legal right to use and enjoy the benefits of a property, even though the legal ownership of that property belongs to someone else. With more than 900 hectares under cultivation in 2025, the results so far are "encouraging," said Perez, attributing the success primarily to Vietnamese seeds and fertilizer. The first 44 hectares of the Los Palacios fields yielded 296 tons of paddy rice, which is 6.75 tons per hectare, and nearly four times the 1.7 tons per hectare harvested elsewhere in Cuba in 2024. Tran Trong Pai said the yield is not far from the eight tons per hectare typically achieved on large-scale farms in Vietnam. "We want to get even more yield here in Cuba, but this is our first time planting here. We're still learning about the soil and how much fertilizer we need to use." The harvested rice belongs to Agri VMA and the Cuban state purchases it. Garcia Perez argues the primary goal was to "replace imports." "We don't need to bring rice from Vietnam to Cuba. The rice stays here, and Cuba buys it from Vietnam. That's cheaper," he said. According to , Cuba spent more than $300 million (€259.8 million) last year on rice imports, which was a huge burden for the chronically cash-strapped state budget. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Rice imports not only incur purchasing and shipping costs. Due to the US embargo, it's often difficult to find shipping companies willing to deliver grain to Cuban ports because they risk punishment under sanctions laws. For Garcia Perez, the project is purely about agriculture, with Vietnam having the "resources and potential we must take advantage of," to create a "win-win situation." The farmland in Los Palacios has been leased to the Vietnamese company for a three-year term, and comprises initially 1,000 hectares that are planned to be expanded to 5,000 hectares. But Garcia Perez is already thinking much bigger, dreaming of the partnership with Vietnam being "extended to other Cuban provinces."
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
China accuses Taiwan of forcing its people to be ‘cannon fodder'
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox China's military said Taipei's leaders were harming and destroying Taiwan under the banner of protecting Taiwan. BEIJING - China's military accused Taiwan on July 30 of forcing its people to become cannon fodder as it raged against recent drills by the island's armed forces. Taipei's leaders 'under the banner of protecting Taiwan, are harming and destroying Taiwan, and coercing the people to be cannon fodder', Beijing's defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang told a regular news conference. Taiwan in July held the 10-day 'Han Kuang' military drills . Rather than only repelling a Chinese attack on its shores, Taiwanese troops in 2025 also practised fighting invading forces in city streets. Beijing's military on July 30 fumed over the exercise, describing them as 'merely a show'. 'They cannot change the inevitable demise of Taiwan independence,' Mr Zhang said, accusing Taipei's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of hatching an 'evil plot'. 'We sternly warn the DPP authorities that unjust deeds will bring destruction, no matter what efforts they try, it will all be in vain,' he added. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore MHA to support HSA's crackdown on Kpod abusers and help in treatment of offenders: Shanmugam Business S'pore's economic resilience will face headwinds in second half of 2025 from tariffs, trade conflicts: MAS Business S'pore's Q2 total employment rises, but infocomm and professional services sectors see more job cuts Singapore Fewer than 1 in 5 people noticed suspicious items during MHA's social experiments Asia Powerful 8.8-magnitude quake in Russia's far east causes tsunami; Japan, Hawaii order evacuations Singapore Migrant workers who gave kickbacks to renew work passes were conservancy workers at AMK Town Council Asia Japan, Vietnam, EU contest terms of US tariff deals behind the scenes Singapore Escape, discover, connect: Where new memories are made Meanwhile, Taipei said on July 30 it had detected 33 sorties of Chinese 'main and auxiliary warplanes', 23 of which entered its airspace. 'Coordinating with naval vessels under the so-called 'joint combat readiness patrol,' they have harassed our surrounding air and sea areas,' the island's defence ministry said. Communist China has never ruled Taiwan but Beijing insists the island is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control. Taiwan is keen to show the world, especially its key security backer Washington, that it is serious about boosting its defence capability. But this week reports emerged that US President Donald Trump's administration had denied permission for Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te to transit in New York as part of an official trip to Latin America in August. Taipei's foreign ministry in response said Mr Lai had not been blocked from visiting the United States and that he had no plans to travel overseas 'in the near future'. AFP
The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Why is there fertiliser shortage despite excess supply, questions BJP
Telangana State BJP president N. Ramchander Rao has once again charged the Congress government of spreading misinformation about the fertiliser availability in the State for the farmers and reiterated that sufficient supply has been made available. Hence, the onus was on the government to control the distribution and supply preventing black marketing, he said. Attacking Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswar Rao for questioning his 'understanding' on the issue, the BJP leader challenged the former for a debate on his home turf of Khammam district during his ongoing tour there on Tuesday. The government is misleading both the BCs and farmers to derive political gain in the coming local body elections as neem-coated urea is being supplied to every village to prevent shortages. The Central government has supplied 12.2 lakh metric tons of urea when requirement is 9.80 lakh metric tons, claimed the BJP chief and wondered why a shortage still exists despite 'excess supply'. The people have rejected the BRS government and are now ready to reject the Congress for their 'anti-people' policies and waiting to bless the 'committed' BJP which always stood with the farmers and their fight for justice, claimed Mr. Rao. The party is rapidly gaining ground in the district which was traditionally considered a Communist stronghold and hoped that Khammam will become a 'BJP fortress' in coming days. Even Communist party cadres are welcome to join the BJP. Earlier district president N. Koteshwar Rao and other leaders spoke. In a separate statement, party chief spokesperson N.V. Subash, has accused the ruling party of misusing the office of the President to divert attention from its own legislative failures on quota for BCs. 'If the Congress is truly committed, it can introduce the reservation right at the gram panchayat level without resorting to such political theatrics which is a smokescreen designed to confuse the people. The Constitution is clear — no religion-based reservations are permitted — and yet the Congress is hell-bent on violating that in the name of BC upliftment,' said Mr. Subash.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Like Nehru for 1962 War, Panikkar became easy scapegoat on China policy: Shivshankar Menon
New Delhi, India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and and its first ambassador to China KM Panikkar shared one thing. Both are still criticised for their policies and they can't defend themselves as they are dead, says former NSA Shivshankar Menon. Like Nehru for 1962 War, Panikkar became easy scapegoat on China policy: Shivshankar Menon Speaking at the India International Centre on Monday during the launch of historian Narayani Basu's biography of Panikkar "A Man for All Seasons", Menon argued that Panikkar's reputation suffered largely because history judged him with the benefit of hindsight, while he and the government were navigating uncharted waters with limited information at the time. "Nehru gets blamed for 1962, but nobody asks, 'What is everybody else doing?' 'Why wasn't anybody else doing their job?' Because it's much easier - the man is dead, he can't defend himself, so they blame him. Then nobody else has to reform or change or do anything. "I think the same applies to Panikkar and China policy. It's convenient to have a scapegoat, and scapegoats are useful to societies, especially to bureaucracies," said Menon, who himself served as ambassador to China from 2000-03. Panikkar was appointed ambassador to China in April 1948. The Communists took over in the country the year later. His role in dealing with China's new government became highly controversial, with accusations that he misled Nehru about the Chinese military campaign into Tibet. China invaded Tibet in 1950. The Chinese People's Liberation Army entered Tibet in October 1950, leading to the eventual incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China. "One of the reasons why Panikkar's reputation on China policy suffered is because we already knew how the story ended. The trouble was, he didn't know where it was going - frankly, none of them did," Menon said in his defence of Pannikar. Giving a glimpse into the period when Panikkar served as ambassador to China, Menon described it as marked by chaos and uncertainty, with no officials for Panikkar to engage with since the new Communist regime had not yet been recognized by India. He highlighted that cables from that era reveal "complete confusion both in Delhi and on the ground", made worse by Panikkar's lack of diplomatic experience and limited sources of intelligence. "He wasn't a professional diplomat, so he wasn't cynical about people," Menon explained, noting how Panikkar had to rely on Chinese officials for information during China's move into Tibet with no alternative channels for verification. Menon cited Basu's book to highlight how directives to Indian diplomats about Tibet shifted nearly every week, emphasizing that the government's stance on the issue was constantly evolving. Despite this, Menon argued that Pannikar right from the beginning foresaw the challenge posed by revived Chinese nationalism. "Some of his early dispatches from China, just before the Communist takeover, were quite prescient," Menon added, lamenting that Delhi did not heed these warnings. Describing Panikkar as someone "difficult to pigeonhole", Menon credited him with being the first to highlight the "maritime dimension" of how India views and engages with the world. "In fact, the 'Look East' and 'Act East' policy is the logical end of where he started us off," he added. "A man for All Seasons", published by Westland, draws on Panikkar's body of work, as well as on archival material from India to England, from France to China, and from Israel to the UN to present a "vivid, irresistibly engaging portrait of this most enigmatic of India's founding fathers". This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
