CUBA CRUDE SUGAR HARVEST FAR BEHIND SCHEDULE

  Cuban president Fidel Castro told a
  Congress of the Union of Young Communists here that the
  production of crude sugar during the harvest still in progress
  is 800,000 tonnes behind schedule.
      In a speech Sunday, published in today's official paper
  GRANMA, Castro said unseasonable rains since January seriously
  interrupted harvesting and milling operations especially in the
  central and western parts of the island.
      The Cuban leader said the mechanical cane harvesters
  scheduled to cut over 60 pct of the cane this year were
  particularly "vulnerable," as muddy fields prevent operations.
      Neither Castro nor the Cuban press have given out figures
  to estimate tonnes of crude production during the present
  harvest or the goals for the sugar campaign.
      However, a cuban sugar official told Reuters that the
  country will be lucky if crude output reaches last year's 7.2
  mln tonnes. Output of crude for the previous 1984-85 harvest
  was 8.2 mln tonnes.
      The harvest was scheduled to end April 30 but due to the
  present shortfalls it will be extended into May and June, the
  official said.
  

