World News for Students of English

14-09-2026 07:00

In a rundown neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana, Cuban agronomist Lorenzo Suarez has transformed his home into an urban oasis that contains 100 different orchid species and hybrids.

While Cuba faces severe economic difficulties, including frequent blackouts and resource shortages, Suarez uses his specialized skills as an agricultural engineer to breed new flowers.

Unlike growers in other countries who raise plants for commercial profit, Suarez is motivated by a passion for creating unique plant varieties. In 2009, he created Cuba’s first ornamental hybrid, named Bella Lorena. Today, his main focus is combining native Cuban orchids with imported varieties. Through this careful breeding process, he aims to produce eye-catching hybrids that can easily adapt to rising local temperatures.

By making these cultivated varieties available, Suarez hopes to discourage people from harvesting rare and endangered wild orchids directly from Cuba’s forests, where approximately 300 native species are currently threatened by human activity and environmental change.

Difficult words: rundown (in very bad condition because of age or lack of care), agronomist (an expert in the science of farming and growing plants), hybrid (a plant or animal bred from two different species or types), cultivated (grown and cared for by humans, not wild).

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