Pinar del Rio, Cuba. - The tobacco plantations of this western territory enjoy worldwide fame because five of its producers have won, in different years, the Cigar Man condition. Such recognition is conferred only on the grounds of remarkable productive results.

Hector Luis Prieto belongs to this exclusive group. He won that prize in 2008, a year when he achieved yields of about 46 quintals per hectare, of which over 50 % were wrappers for the famous cigars. He was also conferred the condition of best farmer of the country among those that sow less than 100 000 seedlings. All the above-mentioned entitled him to the category of best producer of the year.

"I ended up being Cigar Man because of my results. Through the years, I have attained yields of 40, 50 and even 60 % of export wrappers and that recognition entails a commitment to my family and the Revolution. Every day I head for the tobacco plantations willing to work, because that’s what my father taught me. I learned his lessons and now I pass them over to my son who is 20 years old and works with me in the farm,” he pointed out.

His tobacco plantation is located in the “Fifth Congress of the Party” reinforced cooperative of credits and services, in San Juan y Martinez. Since then, people interested in learning about cultivation of the leaf in that area, known as the Mecca of tobacco, often visit his farm.

Hector Luis, the youngest Cigar Man of the world, grows around 63 000 seedlings of sheltered tobacco and 80 000 seedlings under the sun. In those areas, he has introduced innovative technologies, developed at the experimental tobacco station based in his native vicinity.

"In this campaign I applied the double row, a method that allows for more seedlings in the same surface. It is much easier to irrigate, spray and pick the leaves with less mechanical damages. Besides, the yields are also higher", he explained.

In these days, Hector Luis is reaping the tobacco he sowed last October 26 and the liveliness of the leaves is a sign of a likely good harvest. We hope things happen this way for the sake of a producer that makes history at the age of 40, in a land of excellent tobacco growers. By: Alina Cabrera