- published: 30 May 2016
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Agriculture in Cuba has played an important part in the economy for several hundred years. Agriculture contributes less than 10 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP), but it employs roughly one fifth of the working population. About 30 percent of the country's land is used for crop cultivation.
The inefficient agricultural industry in Cuba has led to the need to import large amounts of foods.Cuba now imports about 80% of the food it rations to the public. The rationing program accounts for about a third of the food energy the average Cuban consumes. Overall, however, Cuba is dependent on imports for only 16% of its food.
Cuba's agricultural history can be divided into five periods, reflecting Cuban history in general:
During each of these periods, agriculture in Cuba has confronted unique obstacles and undergone numerous challenges.
Before the revolution 1959, the agricultural sector in Cuba was largely oriented towards and dominated by the US economy. After the communist government took over, the Soviet Union supported the Cuban agriculture by paying premium prices for Cuba's main agricultural product, sugar, and by delivering fertilizers. Sugar was bought by the Soviets at more than five times the market price. Also 95 percent of its citrus crop was exported to the COMECON. On the other hand, the Soviets provided Cuba with 63 percent of its food imports and 90 percent of its petrol.
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, (i/ˈkjuːbə/; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ( listen)) is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. To the north of Cuba lies the United States (140 km or 90 mi away) and the Bahamas, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic are to the southeast.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on and claimed the island now occupied by Cuba, for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, and gained formal independence from the U.S. in 1902. A fragile democracy, increasingly dominated by radical politics eventually evolved, solidified by the Cuban Constitution of 1940, but was definitely quashed in 1952 by former president Fulgencio Batista, and an authoritarian regime was set up, intensifying and catalyzing already rampant corruption, political repression and crippling economic regulations.Batista was ousted in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, and a new administration under Fidel Castro established, which had by 1965 evolved into a single-party state under the revived Communist Party of Cuba, which holds power to date.
Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), better known by his stage name Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His gold-selling debut album, I Created Disco, was released in 2007 and contained the top ten singles "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls". His second studio album, Ready for the Weekend (2009), reached number one in the UK Album Chart and includes the chart-topper "I'm Not Alone", the UK top five hit "Ready for the Weekend", and the singles "Flashback" and "You Used to Hold Me".
A remix album titled L.E.D. Festival was released in July 2010 as a free album in the August issue of Mixmag. Harris is currently working on his third studio album—due for release in 2012—which has produced the singles "Awooga", "Bounce", "Feel So Close", and "Let's Go". He has written and produced records for other recording artists including Kylie Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Dizzee Rascal, Rihanna (on the international chart topper "We Found Love"), and Kesha.