Pinar del Río - With the prospect of contributing more than 260 million dollars to the country's economy during 2019, tobacco products are reaffirmed as the main export of Cuban agriculture.

The sector’s development program has allowed to surpass the 30,000 tons of the leaf in the last three seasons and to have the necessary availability of the industry's raw material, and even to resume the export of unmanufactured tobacco, reports Granma newspaper.

Justo Luis Fuentes, director of the Tabacuba Business Group in Pinar del Rio Province,  made these assertions during the start of the 2020-2019 sowing season.

According to the official, some 16,300 producers will participate in the campaign, in which more than 30,000 hectares will be planted.

Despite the situation that the country is going through, due to the intensification of the blockade by the Administration of Donald Trump, the director of Tabacuba assured that the fundamental resources for the campaign are in the hands of the 23 companies that are dedicated to this crop in the country.

He also pointed out that the Group is carrying out a series of actions aimed at increasing income. Among them, the increase in special editions of Premium handmade cigars  and sales of unmanufactured raw material surpluses that are not usable for rolling cigars.