Digging & Dreaming

Day 10 - Friday 18th November 2011 - INIFAT, Santiago de las Vegas

The day started slightly cooler and with less humidity which was a refreshing change. However, this didn’t stop the mosquitoes and ants biting like crazy which was really annoying and meant that my legs and feet in particular were an absolute mess. Horrible!

Collecting water on an organopónico

The first seminar of the day was a session on water management. Although a lot of what was talked about in the session was not directly transferable to the UK it was fascinating to hear the different ways that Cubans make use of water in their urban growing settings.

Cuba is not like the UK with lots and lots of rain so the food producers have got the use of water in growing down to an absolute science – not a drop of it can be wasted. It is especially important to point out that growers are not allowed to take any water from the domestic water system so every bit of water that is used on each site has to be collected during the rainy season and carefully conserved throughout the dry season. In addition to this in all urban agriculture settings careful consideration is made regarding the level of humidity within the soil. In each setting soil is analysed to work out what capacity it has to absorb and retain water. Particular consideration is made of this in relation to the potential limit of productive capacity that each soil also has.

Pumping water Cuban style

In terms of watering plants, detailed information has been drawn together to consider the exact amount of water that is needed to cultivate each different plant and this is carefully considered when deciding how much irrigation is necessary on each different site.

After eating lunch we had a brilliant session looking at the theories and methodologies of creating designs based upon, and in respect of naturally occurring systems.

Poly-cultures that reflect natural systems

In order to do this there are a number of different things that need to be considered within the design:

• The management of soil, water and other resources.
• That management happens as close to production as possible.
• That full consideration needs to be made of the aspect of each site in order to make best use of each different site.
• Recognition of the potential benefits that sustainable management may offer within an economic context.
• Where ever possible you should conserve the structure and function of naturally occurring ecosystems.
• You can only manage things within your own limits.
• You can only every use management techniques that are appropriate within your own context.
• It is essential to recognize the variability in scale and effect that may characterize any natural process.
• Recognise the inevitability of change.
• Find a balance between the conservation and use of biological diversity.
• Make use of all the different information that is available to you in order to conserve your own eco-system.
• The focus of your work should take into consideration all parts of local society as well as all the different scientific aspects of cultivation.

Day 9 - Thursday 17th November, INIFAT and Alamar

Welcome to Alamar
This was a big exciting day as we were taking a trip to visit a working organopónico! This meant an earlier start than normal as we were driving out to Organopónico Alamar which is one of the largest and most famous organopónicos in Cuba. The site itself is situated in Alamar which is a small town on the Eastern outskirts of Havana with 27,000 inhabitants in the immediate community and 50,000 more in the outlying areas.

Different growing spaces in the heart of the community

The organopónico was founded as a co-operative by four local men in 1997 and now extends to around 10 acres in total. Our visit began with one of the founders giving us an introduction to the history of the site before handing over to one of the growers, who was also a qualified agroecological engineer, to show us around. I do not know if it was a coincidence of all the people I had happened to meet, but once again both men spoke in absolute pride and positivity about their country and their community. A direct contrast to the impressions given by the British and American press that most Cubans are tired of Fidel and the socialist regime.  It was also fascinating to hear their take upon co-operatives and how they function in reality in Cuba.

After our introduction we were taken on a tour of the whole site, which can be described as nothing less than exceptional. Here’s an outline of what we saw:

• A semi-protected cultivation house where plug plants are brought on before being moved outside.
• A processing plant for making natural fertilizers and insecticides as well as breeding natural predators like ladybirds.
• Literally acres and acres of beautifully cultivated land made up of a variety of raised beds and beds cultivating the soil directly.
• Semi-protected cultivation houses for growing crops like cucumbers.
• A huge area for making compost and substrates, including worm compost.
• A preservation room teaching and practicing the preservation of fresh produce.
• A large nursery and shop selling ornamental plants.
• A punto de venta where local people could buy freshly grown produce at low, low prices.

Alamar Punto de Venta

The whole place was an absolute revelation – especially when you look around the borders of the site, see the surrounding flats and are reminded that it is right in the middle of an urban neighbourhood. That really is placing food at the heart of a community!

Breeding ladybirds and other useful bugs

After our visit to Alamar we headed back to INIFAT for a session on bio-fertilisers and bio-insecticides. This is one aspect of Cuban urban agricultural practice that I do struggle with. It is a subject that Cuba has done a great deal of research about alongside genetic engineering, although the research into genetic engineering appears to have dropped off a great deal in recent years. Their interests in the subject appear to be twofold. Firstly they have a genuine belief that these methodologies will play an important part in the future of agriculture on the island. The second motivation is that they need access to the hard currency that they can get when they sell the products that they have created overseas. I have to admit this is the first seminar I took part in where I had significant qualms or questions about any of the work that the Cubans are doing. Although all of these products originate from a natural source I do have to question the long term-validity of their semi-industrial production. I also feel there is a lack of research into the long-term impact of releasing this type of product into the natural environment. In my opinion I am much more convinced by an organic system that does not make use of this kind of industrially produced product.

New this season - taking over extra land at Alamar