Havana - Experts from more than 40 institutions in 15 countries are taking part in the 3rd International Congress on Urban, Suburban and Family Agriculture inaugurated in Cuba Wednesday, to exchange and debate on food security and sovereignty.

The forum will be in session up to Friday at the Havana Convention Center, organized by the National Institute on Tropical Agriculture Research, the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Enterprise Group, with the sponsorship of the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO).

This type of urban farming began in Cuba 30 years ago with the creation of vegetable gardens, based on agro-ecological bases, that has turned into a popular movement supplying more than a million tons of green vegetables to urban populations, .

Alina Beltran, director of Development for the Agricultural Enterprise Group, praised the efforts made in recent years by urban farmers to supply themselves with seeds, a work with which they have been able to produce 70 percent of the supplies of lettuce, 80 percent of Chinese chard and 40 of radish.

The gathering's agenda includes topics such as current challenges for this type of urban farming, sustainable production, handling of plagues in tropical conditions and others.

A detailed presentation on the Program for Urban, Suburban and Family Agriculture was made by Cuban expert Nelson Campanioni on the opening day.