Hurricane Dennis swept through the Caribbean last week causing extensive damage to fruit crops in Cuba.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro said that 200,000 tonnes of grapefruit - 80 per cent of the national crop - have been lost along with a further 160,000t of other citrus lines: both key exports for the island economy. Also hard hit were 11,500ha of banana plantations and some 7,000t of mangoes.
Badly affected was the Matanzas province and the Jaguey Grande orchard east of Havana, which accounts for roughly half of the citrus crop and about 70-80 per cent of its exports.
The BM group operates a citrus packhouse in the region which it part owns.
The country is also working round the clock to restore electricity and get citrus processing plants back up and running.
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