Cuba makes strides in breeding silkworms

MATANZAS, Cuba - Cuban researcher Marlene Prieto is passionate about two things: silkworm breeding and mulberry cultivation and she has been leading a project combining these two since 2005.

Prieto, an agronomist, has worked since she was 18 in the "Indio Hatuey" Experimental Station of Pastures and Forages, an agricultural research center in the municipality of Jaguey Grande, 147 kilometers southeast of Havana.

The 52-year-old is enthusiastic about the progress of this silkworm breeding program, one of the projects promoted by late Cuban president Fidel Castro.