Cuba assesses environmental impact of fuel farm fire

STORY: Cuba assesses environmental impact of fuel farm fire DATELINE: Aug. 10, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:27 LOCATION: Havana CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT/SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the fuel farm explosion 2. various of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel meeting the people 3. various of the injured STORYLINE: Cuban scientists and experts are studying the environmental impact of the fire at a fuel storage facility in Matanzas Province, according to the country's scientific authority. With vital measures being carried out in Matanzas, different work teams are monitoring air quality in the provinces of Mayabeque and Havana, Minister of Science, Technology and Environment Elba Rosa Perez said on Monday. "The main task is to take care of people's health and minimize the impact as much as possible," the official told Cuban state television. The fire in Cuba's largest fuel storage facility, some 100 km east of the capital Havana, was triggered by a lightning strike on one of the tanks on Friday. Oscar Garcia, the minist

Cuba produces bio-fertilizers, bio-stimulants to increase agricultural production

STORY: Cuba produces bio-fertilizers, bio-stimulants to increase agricultural production DATELINE: May 4, 2022 LENGTH: 00:02:43 LOCATION: Havana CATEGORY: AGRICULTURE/SCIENCE SHOTLIST: 1. various of the production of bio-fertilizers and stimulants 2. SOUNDBITE (Spanish): ALEJANDRO FALCON, Head of Group of Bio-Active Products at National Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Cuba STORYLINE: Cuba is working on the production of bio-fertilizers and bio-stimulants in search of a model of sustainable agriculture as the country faces economic, commercial and financial restrictions caused by the U.S. sanctions. At the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Cuban province of Mayabeque, some 30 kilometers from the capital Havana, chemical laboratories are manufacturing PECTIMORF and QUITOMAX, bio-stimulants of natural origin constituted of a mix of pectic oligosaccharides that are biologically active in plants and utilize chitosan polymers. According to the head of the Group of Bio-Active Products at