In 1989, When the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuban agriculture collapsed with it. Oil imports fell by 53 percent, and the supply of pesticides and fertilizers fell by 80 percent. Economic collapse led swiftly to agricultural crisis. Cuba's industrialized farming system, fueled, literally, by Soviet tractors and petrochemicals, ground to a halt.After Cuba was forced to return to its peasant farming roots, it put 280,888 domesticated animals to work.Soviet tractors, once ubiquitous on Cuba's farmlands, were replaced by animal traction — oxen, horses, and cows.