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Agricultural experts gathered in Havana this week to discuss sustainable farming strategies like urban agriculture and worm farms. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuba could no longer get their hands on the chemicals, fertilizers and machinery needed for conventional farming. Food production plummeted and the communist-run nation turned to inexpensive organic farming. "When you use chemical controls, you are relying on a product that you apply in one hit and you kill the insects and the plague disappears. But you run the huge risk that afterwards of producing [insects] that have a genetic resistance [to the pesticides] and you can get to the point when the same chemical will no longer work," said the Tropical Agriculture Investigation Institute Director-General Adolfo Rodriguez Nodals. "Biological control is not about eliminating problems immediately, it is about maintaining a balance. And we are going to see for example losses between five, four or three percent [of the crop]. Why? Because you can't make it zero percent. So we let nature work, and we look for a balance and something is profitable," he said. These days Cuban state farms use organic material like sugar cane, worm compost and manure to fertilize their fields rather than synthetic replacements. "The leaves [of the plants] are the biggest and the greenest. The worms process it well. And because it an ecologically-sound product, it helps avoid human health problems," said worm expert Joaquín Sariñas Aurel. But according to the World Resources Institute, food production has only recently begun to approach levels before the Soviet Union's collapse and the country relies on rationing to feed its people. Hundreds of agriculture and science experts attend this week's Cuban Organic and Sustainable Agriculture conference in Havana. Some analysts believe organic farming could eventually promote better seeds, crop rotation and after-harvest management without resorting to expensive and environmentally hazardous chemicals. "One of the main catastrophes that could be coming is hunger. And the people in my country [Brazil] aren't worried about it. They are more worried about producing biofuels. About producing for the market rather than the necessities of their families," said Brazilian agricultural scientist Joan Bosco, visiting from the University of Cordova in Spain. Increased food demand from rapidly developing countries such as China and India, the use of biofuels, high oil prices, global foot stocks at 25-year lows and market speculation are all blamed for pushing prices of staples like wheat, maize and rice to record highs around the globe. Despite its sustainable farming methods, Cuba has food shortages and relies on rationing and importing food. The U.S. has remained Cuba's main supplier of food and farm products, with sales totaling $1.99 billion since they began in 2001. The main items were corn, chicken, wheat, soybean products and rice, according to the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which monitors trade with Cuba.