Hurricane Ian’s impact on Cuba’s esteemed tobacco-growing region of Pinar del Río, directly hit in September 2022, continues to pose challenges for the country’s cigar production.

According to a report from Granma, a state-run newspaper, the country has officially downsized its planned planting area in Pinar del Río by approximately 21 percent. Grupo Empresarial Tabacuba, the state-run entity overseeing tobacco and cigar production, has revised its targets for the 2023-2024 harvest from the initial 12,905 hectares to 10,200.

As of the report dated February 8, only 7,700 hectares have been planted, with the planting period extended until February 20. This implies that Cuban authorities aimed to plant 2,500 hectares in less than two weeks. For context, a hectare is roughly equivalent to 2.5 acres.

Increase of tobacco crops

Though the 7,700 hectares planted represent just over half of the 13,921 hectares targeted for Pinar del Río in the previous harvest season (2021-2022), it marks a significant improvement compared to the previous year. Despite granting farmers an additional 50 days for planting tobacco, only 5,150 hectares had been cultivated in Pinar del Río by late March, resulting in the smallest tobacco crop in the country’s history.
It’s estimated that Hurricane Ian damaged 90 percent of the curing barns in Pinar del Río. Granma reports that 4,776 have been reconstructed, with another 620 nearing completion. However, Tabacuba indicates it will require at least another year to fully recover from Ian’s impact.

Consequently, Cuban officials state that, given the constraints, they are prioritizing farmers and land plots with established track records to maximize results.

Although tobacco is cultivated in other regions of Cuba, Pinar del Río, situated in the westernmost part of the island, accounts for roughly two-thirds of the country’s total tobacco production. For Cuban cigars, Pinar del Río holds even greater significance compared to other provinces, which primarily grow tobacco for cigarette production.
Osvaldo Santana Vera of Tabacuba has stated that the target for the 2024-2025 crop is set at 14,000 hectares.