Agricultural Diversification

Agricultural/Economic Diversification

The development of alternative crops

Alternative crops were the other crops in the colonies. The list consisted of the other crops that were grown in the colonies after emancipation. They were grown mainly by peasant farmers.

These crops included limes, bananas, rice, coffee, cotton, cocoa, nutmeg, and coconuts. Spices, and root crops were also part of the program, as were fruits and vegetables.

Introduction Economic/agricultural diversification began even during the slavery and sugar period because slaves grew other crops on their plots on the plantations either for their families to consume or to sell in the Sunday markets. When slaves were emancipated in 1838, the now free men wanted to get as far away from the plantations for the most part so many of them decided to become independent peasant farmers and cultivate crops to make a living. The diversification process was further pushed by the abandonment of sugar cultivation on some estates.

On such estates, some planters began to focus on new crops which required less labour. Some planters would also sell or rent land to peasant farmers who wanted to cultivate other crops.

Several features of agricultural/economic diversification should be considered:

a)  Mostly peasant farmers practised the cultivation of alternative crops The peasants had increased independence as a result of their cultivation of alternative crops.

b) They were able to exist on the earnings from the crops as many were seasonal and as such, they were always able to reap a crop.

c) There was a ready market both locally and overseas for several of the crops, such as banana, coffee and coconuts. The peasants were able to rely less on estate work.

d) This also made them more independent. The peasants were very instrumental in making crops such as bananas important exports. In colonies such as Jamaica, bananas were able to become chief revenue earners, putting sugar into second place.

The peasant activities in Trinidad and Guyana also saw crops such as rice becoming vital to the economies.

 The majority of planters continue to cultivate sugarcane.

 Some planters in some colonies decided to grow alternative crops. The planters recognized the profitability of the alternative crops. Planters had long looked at the banana industry with distaste. However, when the United Fruit Company started its own banana estates, planters recognized the value of the crop. Some planters even stopped planting sugarcane in order to plant banana and coconuts. The sugar estates that had been unprofitable found that this was a very good alternative.

The Crops

Banana The crop was planted by peasants but became important as an export commodity in Jamaica after 1869 when the first load of bananas was carried to the U.S. Many planters who had abandoned sugarcane in the 1880s started to cultivate bananas for export. In 1893, 113 estates cultivated bananas. By 1912, bananas, oranges and grapefruits made up about 56% of export earnings for that year while sugar made up only 6% of export earnings. The banana industry was greatly helped by the fact that the United Fruit Company also had banana estates and also bought the fruit from peasant producers.

Coffee, pimento, ginger, logwood: These crops were cultivated in small amounts by the peasants for exports in Jamaica. Coffee was also cultivated in Grenada. Cotton Owing to the high cotton prices during the American Civil War (1861-65), cotton was grown again with success in Tobago, Grenada, St Lucia, Antigua, and Nevis but with the end of the war and the return of low priced American cotton, production soon fell away again. The cotton of St Vincent was of particularly good quality. Cocoa Cocoa was grown extensively in Trinidad and Grenada and produced in smaller quantities in Jamaica, St Lucia and Dominica. In Grenada, it completely replaced sugarcane. Citrus Citrus such as limes, grapefruits and oranges replaces sugarcane in Dominica and was encouraged in St. Lucia and Montserrat for making lime juice. In Jamaica, oranges and grapefruits were cultivated by peasants for exports and up to 1912, made up over 50% of export earnings including banana.

Spices such as nutmeg Nutmeg was planted extensively in Grenada. The island became known as the ‘’Spice Island.’’ Nutmeg production was however not to reach the important levels of production as elsewhere in the world.

Rice

Rice was produced in large quantities in Guyana and to a lesser extent in Trinidad and Jamaica by East Indian peasants. It was first grown for domestic consumption locally in Guyana but later it was produced in sufficient quantities to support an export market. In 1889, Guyana had imported 24,000 lbs of rice and exported none; but in 1913, only 13,00 lbs was imported and a huge 17,000,000 lbs was exported. In time, rice production became the second largest agricultural industry in Guyana.

Arrowroot In St Vincent, arrowroot replaces sugarcane as the primary crop.

Coconut Grown in most colonies for copra and oil making. In Trinidad, the high prices obtained for coconuts between 1918 and 1921 encouraged coconut cultivation to increase. Forestry In the mainland colonies of Guyana and Belize, huge forests existed and though a wide variety of timbers is found in each country, the green heart trees of Guyana and mahogany of Belize are world famous.

For some time, mainly to satisfy war time demands, Trinidad and Guyana experimented with rubber production but this stopped due to competition from Asian countries.

Factors which affected the survival of alternative crops

Positive factors

 The crops did not require expensive machinery to grow and harvest unlike sugarcane. These crops were ideal for peasants to develop since little capital was required.

 A large labor force for cultivation and processing was also not required. Again this factor encouraged the survival of these crops since peasants and his family and an extra hand or two could cultivate and process the entire crop.

 Unlike sugarcane production, large amounts of land were not necessary. An acre or two cultivated any of these crops.

 A major disadvantage of these crops over sugar was that they did not last long. However, this was overcome because of nearness to the market, mainly the U.S. and fast efficient transport. Refrigeration helped to keep the crop in marketable condition especially bananas.

 The topography of the land was also a factor that determined the survival of crops other than sugarcane. In some places sugarcane could not be cultivated because of the terrain. However, other crops could successfully be cultivated in mountainous islands such as Dominica.

 New departments of agriculture carried out research into the new types of crops, new methods of cultivation, etc. Such departments were set up in Trinidad, Jamaica, and Barbados.

Negative factors (1) The main negative factor affecting the popularity and success in sale in alternative crops was a push to promote sugarcane in the early 1900s. At the Brussels Convention in 1902, European countries decided to abolish subsidies on beet sugar which meant that it would not be able to compete with sugarcane. This restored confidence in cane sugar which led to an expansion of sugarcane on idle land. Other factors which pushed sugar production in the early 1900s were the adoption of the central sugar factory system, departments of agriculture began to focus on finding new varieties of sugarcane and the outbreak of World War I caused a reduction in beet sugar exports from Europe. Therefore, during the first 30 years of the 20th Century (early 1900s) it was difficult for alternative crops to further establish themselves in the West Indian economy since most attention was being paid to reestablishing sugar.

(2) Natural disasters also discouraged the survival of alternative crops. This also affected sugarcane but the alternative crops had a less solid foundation and less capital so the alternative crops would therefore be more negatively affected by natural disasters.

(3) Diseases affected some crops.

Social effects of the development of alternative crops

(1) Growing importance of the peasantry. The peasant/small holding class grew in number and importance because peasant farming became important to many British Caribbean countries. The peasant class wanted to improve its living standards for its children and peasant farming of alternative crops was the way to do so.

(2) Demand for social services. Social services for the majority of the population was poor and non-existent. Because of greater profits brought in by alternative crops more money could be spent by the local governments on social services.