Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh works with Cuba's Ministers of Agriculture and the Food Industry

The meeting took place during President Nguyen Xuan Phuc's and Vietnamese high-ranking delegations' official visit.

Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said that the two nations' Parties and States have prioritized agricultural cooperation in their long-standing friendship of comradeship and brotherhood.

Vietnam's MARD acknowledges that it must make every effort to help Cuba, contributing to the latter's food security and economic development, as well as the two nations' shared progress.

MARD has been coordinating with the Cuban side for many years to execute a number of major initiatives aimed at assisting Cuba in increasing agricultural and livestock production. Despite the challenging circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 epidemic, Vietnam is ready to send experts to Cuba to assist the nation in developing a model of high-quality seed and commercial rice cultivation.

Cuba's Minister of Agriculture, Brito, expressed his gratitude for the Vietnamese side's assistance and shares. With the support of Vietnamese experts, the country established a model of rice seed production at all levels, high quality, and intensive commercial rice farming on a nearly 68,000-hectare scale, increasing the average rice yield within the model from 4.0 tons to 6.4 tons/ha, with the highest reaching 8.07 tons/ha (compared to the national average rice yield of 2.4 tons/ha to 3.5 tons/ha). Increased rice production has enabled Cuba to meet half of its domestic rice demand, thus contributing significantly to the country's food security.

Cuba's coffee production has also hit a record level, owing to Vietnam's assistance. On the basis of Vietnam's intense farming model, the Cuban side has aggressively developed coffee-intensive farming areas in a number of provinces using Vietnamese methods. Cuba has progressively changed the size of coffee production away from high mountains (which are difficult to care for and difficult to access) and toward lower regions, mostly via the use of intensive farming methods.

Cuban Minister of Food Industry Martinez, for his part, expressed his appreciation for Vietnam's aquaculture development initiatives assisting Cuba since 2009, which have assisted Cuba in strengthening its capacity and effectively transferring aquaculture technology. The production, output, and quality of aquatic breeds received by Cuban partners have improved significantly, particularly monogamous tilapia, which has shown a 20% increase in productivity.

Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh emphasized and commended the Cuban side's tight cooperation in developing an effective technology transfer model in the area of agriculture during the meeting. The two parties agreed that there is still more potential for agricultural cooperation to grow.

Vietnam is ready to continue assisting Cuba in duplicating its agricultural production methods, resulting in increased output and quality. Additionally, the Deputy Minister encouraged the Cuban side to coordinate efforts to duplicate the model, which relies on an agricultural extension system to transmit technological advancements to farmers and is inextricably tied to business investment. With its current capabilities, Cuba is also ready to exchange experiences and cooperate with Vietnam to enhance collaboration in probiotics research and production, guaranteeing quality, food safety, and agricultural sustainability.

On the same day, in the presence of Presidents Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Miguel Diaz Camel Bermudez, Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh and Cuban Minister of Food Industry Martinez signed a Memorandum of Action Plan on the implementation of the Cuban Aquaculture Support Project Phase III: Increasing aquaculture production in Cuba.