Cuba to let farmers use idle state land

HAVANA - Communist officials decreed yesterday that private farmers and cooperatives can use up to 100 acres of idle government land, as President Raul Castro works to revive Cuba's agricultural sector.

While the individual parcels are small, the widespread transfer of farmland from public to private hands could change the face of farming in a country where the government controls more than 90 percent of the economy.

The law did not say how much state land will be turned over to private hands or how many might apply.

But it described the measure as a way to help Cuba solve the problem of underused land while cutting food imports expected to cost the government $2 billion this year.

Landless Cubans can be given a bit more than 33 acres, while those who already have fully producing plots can add enough state lands to bring their total holdings to 100 acres.

Existing state farms, cooperatives and state factories also can apply.

Ownership will stay with the state. All will have to pay taxes for the lands, though the decree gave no details.

Government statistics released last month show that the proportion of fallow or underused Cuban farmland increased to 55 percent in 2007, up from 46 percent in 2002. Just 29 percent of land on state farms is actively used.

The new measure does not say where farmers will sell their output. Nearly all private farmers are now required to sell most of their produce beyond what they eat themselves to the state.