The cane harvest occurs during the dry months of January through April. Since the establishment in 1959 of a centrally planned economy under the Communist government, sugarcane has been grown mainly on large state farms and cooperatives. The Soviet Union and Eastern European countries were the principal importers of Cuban sugar. Sugar accounted for more than three quarters of all export revenues. The heavy dependence on a single crop continues to hinder Cuba's economy.
Cuban tobacco is famous worldwide.
Traditionally it has been the country's second most valuable crop. The finest tobacco is grown in Pinar del Rio Province. During the 1980s tobacco production declined. By the late 1980s it occupied only about 1 percent of the land under cultivation, and its position as the second leading agricultural export was being challenged by citrus fruits. Other major crops are coffee, rice, tropical fruits, and vegetables, especially corn, yucca, plantains, beans, and yams.