2023-08-02 14:10:00
An invisible bulldozer among the marabou, piece by piece, managed to remove so much undergrowth to visualize corn, sweet potato, soybeans, rice… as a sign of the will with which a young man of about 35, from Candelaria, took over a farm belonging to the Company of José Martí grains, to be part of the 11 producers in the municipality, committed to supplying eggs to its nearly 21,000 countrymen.
Jonny Valdés Rodríguez, along with his workers, was in the vivarium —as he is known around those parts— around ten in the morning, clinging to the furrow, since feeding the 400 mountain chicks is an obsession.
“Since I can remember, I have been passionate about the countryside, but I have never raised birds. My first lands at kilometer 185, Finca San José, by Decree-Law 259, were for livestock and now I grow various crops ”, he tells us.
“But we had to take a step forward, and we did. By Decree 358 I received these 30 hectares (ha) on the other side of the highway, and about three months ago there is no time to lose.
“The water well was collapsed. From Cárdenas, in Matanzas, I brought the shirts, in order to pump about 60 liters per second, but I had not yet been able to buy the turbine to fulfill that purpose, now I intend to install a smaller one, while I wait for the water that falls from the sky, and Just with that faith I planted 10 ha. of rice (130,000 pesos in seed), and it hasn’t rained here yet.
“From Cuba-Mexico, in Alquízar, I brought three quintals of corn, each one at 9,000 pesos, plus 6,000 for transporting them to Candelaria. They grow beautifully on 6 ha.
“I bought soybeans at 5,000 pesos per 100 pounds, and another 6 ha. They will be sown soon. There is cassava, sweet potato, plantain… everything ensures the food for the chicks, with about six workers to whom I pay an average of 200 pesos a day.
project inside
It was May 16, recalls Jonny, when he received the 400 chicks, with four sacks of feed and an invoice for exactly 42,459 pesos, a payment that still (at the time of our visit) has not been made with the Poultry Company.
“In three days they ate that food. Of course, I didn’t even know if it was one or three meals a day! Since then I have given them what I have here, and nothing else in the afternoon.
“I have seen only one egg lay, from a specimen that seems to be more long-lived, since they do not meet the days to start that process. The sad thing is that I have almost 100 less, because I produced worms with waste purchased from the meat processor, through a contract and apparently, they either consumed more or it hurt them. Thanks to some friends from Pinar del Río I stopped the deaths”, he says, still scared.
“I will not go back, but I am still to see the serial production of the first eggs. Although part of the animal feed is seeded, how do you know if mixing it is ideal for laying birds? I consider a contract to provide me with quality feed necessary ”, she assures.
«These chicks are born in poultry units, eating feed from the beginning, after growth, and after 180 days they come to us to give them whatever there is; that stress, added to being in grazing areas, can hurt their purpose. They only go to the cages at night, during the day they look for food on the ground, it is the concept used, but…»
Accounts, with feet on the ground
According to forecasts, Candelaria must have 10,500 layers, in order to deliver 127,206 eggs in the first stage, at a rate of six per inhabitant, explained Niurka Cabo Delgado, the mayor, who is in charge of the Program.
“We committed to 11 private producers, including two women, eight from Credit and Services Cooperatives, plus one from the Basic Unit of Playuela Cooperative Production and another from the Urban Farm, who must assume 3,200 birds in this first stage, and the Grain Company is added with 800.
“Likewise, it is studied how to reach the four popular councils, assigning warehouses to each of the producers, the mayor explains,” who clarifies that there is a team created to certify the conditions of developing birds, monitor the program, even train and chain the producers, “but there are many reserves in completion and efficiency,” he says sincerely.
At what price each unit? Another unknown, since being austere, and without penciling in what was invested by this young man, between the lines there are already thousands of pesos, which when added, divided, even multiplied, would give an alarming number to be able to bring a Candelarian egg to the table .
The truth is that July culminates -adding those of two other producers- with some 800 chicks, after subtracting the almost 100 lost in Jomny cages, from the 10,500 that would supply Candelaria after about six months, and although this is only one of the three experiences in these parts, and other examples will reach these pages together with the criteria of the Poultry Company, looking at it will avoid future setbacks.
The will is unbreakable. There are no doubts, but practice does indicate that with more training, formulas, support, and decision-makers’ feet on the ground, we will be able to count the eggs with which Candelaria will be self-sufficient in 2024.
Grazing areas during the day should provide feed for layers.
#Tested #eggs #sight