Scientific Farming in the Caribbean

This research project is a direct result of the research project Global Research, which pointed at scientific agriculture in the Caribbean as one among a large number of possible and pressing research projects waiting to be carried out.

The projects takes its starting point in a particular condition in Central America’s smallest country with the smallest population - Belize. Belize is a country of 23.000 km² - half the size of Denmark - with not only a small population, but also a low gross national income per inhabitant. Like in many Third World countries, the agriculture is a major activity. In order to create development it is therefore decisive to promote the agricultural production, forestry and animal husbandry, and, where possible, to substitute import with own production.

Concerning the land in Belize:

• 7%, or 1,600 km², of Belize’s total area is characterized as suited for agriculture.
• 78%, or 18,000 km², consists of mountainous areas, swamps, rivers, towns, roads, or similarly useless land with respect to agriculture.
• 15%, or 3,400 km², consists of the so-called pine ridge soil, which is an acid soil poor in nutrients and with high levels of aluminum. In the rainy season the draining capacity is very poor, and in the dry season the soil is rapidly desiccated. The normal pine ridge vegetation consists of low bushes, grasses, and pine.

The objective of the project was to investigate what can be grown in this poor soil. It was a task which has perspectives for all of Belize as well as countries with similarly poor soil in the Caribbean. Furthermore, there were a number of other perspectives worth mentioning:

By far the largest part of agricultural research in the world takes place in temperate soils in rich countries. This project contributes to opposing this trend by actually carrying out the research in the Third World.

• It increases the overall area available for agricultural production - an absolutely necessary action with regard to the drastic increase in the world population, which in 1900 was 1,5 billion, in 1985 five billion, and at the turn of the centuries more than six billion.
• It shows a direction forward - as opposed to the extensive following of potentially productive areas in the Third World, taking place because of wrong agricultural methods, burning off, etc.
• It shows a direction forward for the general cultivation of the pine ridge soil, which is cultivated only to a very small extent. If the project can show that the pine ridge soil can be better cultivated, then suddenly a large area, with only low clearing expenses, would be considered agricultural land. This in turn would give new perspectives to countries like Venezuela, which has millions of hectares of uncultivated, poor sandy soil consisting of raised ocean floor.

The objective of the project is thus to show that it is possible to grow crops on poor soil in the Third World if scientific methods are used, and if already existing knowledge about soil conditions, crops, and agricultural methods are combined in new ways and put to use.

Concretely the project would work with the cultivation of the pine ridge soil which is normally not cultivated. A large part of Tropical Produce Co. Ltd.’s land (70%) was soil of this type. The project would cultivate a number of trial plots, and in connection with these, establish a fully equipped laboratory to make tests and analyzes in order start the professional agricultural production of two new crops capable of managing in the poor soil. Another objective of the project was to disseminate the results through seminars for interested people, as well as to make the actual laboratory available for the public.

The Results of the More than Five Years of Experimental Work

The Laboratory
The laboratory was established and equipped and ready for use in January 1988.

In 1989 there are two people employed, and the laboratory is opened for the public every week day.

• The laboratory carries out soil analyzes for the pH, nitrates, magnesium, phosphates, and calcium. The results are used to plant 1,100 acres of trial plots with bananas. 800 acres is pine ridge soil; the rest consists of other soil types for the purpose of making comparisons.
• The laboratory carries out analyzes of the disease sigatoka, which at that time is the most destructive disease in the banana industry. Sigatoka is a fungus, Mycosphaerella Fijiensis, which rapidly destroys the leaves of the banana plant, and thereby also destroys its possibilities for developing and producing big bunches of bananas.
• The laboratory develops a program against sigatoka, which both controls the disease, and adds nutrition to the plants. In the dry season manganese and zinc, which are fungicidal, are added, and in the rainy season three different fungicides mixed with oil are used. The volumes and their intervals for spraying are decisive.
• The laboratory makes itself into experts in the fight against sigatoka, and helps many banana farmers in this field. As a result, Tropical Produce Company took over the company Crop Dusters, which through the use of two small airplanes sprayed all the bananas in Belize for many years - and an actual systematic control of sigatoka took form. In 1992, this work was handed over to the Belize’s Banana Grower’s Association.
• The laboratory makes further developments to control the Mexican Fruit Fly. The Mexican Fruit Fly causes major destruction and losses for the citrus- mango- and papaya growing industry, for example. The fly lays its eggs in the half-ripe fruit, and then the hatched larvae ruins the fruit. Countries and regions which harbor this fruit fly are not allowed to export fruit to many countries without special treatment of the fruits, and this is very expensive.
• The laboratory develops its techniques for, and its understanding of, the significance of extensive statistical collections of data from plants in specific areas.
• The laboratory is expanded to include the production of plants "in vitro", that is plants in glass containers, which are especially suitable and free of disease. The project has used the knowledge and experiences from agricultural production in the whole world, has hosted many guests and has corresponded with a great number of people in Asia, the Pacific region, Africa, and South America.

The Trial Plots
There were 200 trial plots made in connection with the laboratory. The trial plots were planted with cabbage, corn, papaya, tomatoes, and beans. They were treated with more than 90 different amounts and types of partly fertilizers, partly aluminum-neutralizing substances like rock phosphate, ground chalk and burnt lime, as well as various micro nutrients which the soil and leaf analyses proved the need for.

The Pine Ridge Soil Results
The experiments confirmed that with the addition of accurate amounts of nutrients and micro nutrients at the right time, and with the soil neutralized with marl, many crops can actually be cultivated on the pine ridge soil. However, the expenses in doing so are often too big in relation to the return, since there are large expenses connected to controlling either the heavy rains or the harsh drought.

The results showed, that trees are suitable for the pine ridge soil. The roots of the trees are able to penetrate the hard soil, and they are capable of holding the nutrients in the trunk and can therefore better resist hard times.

The citrus trees do fine on the pine ridge soil. They grow slower, which has shown to be a surprising advantage in that the sugar content of the fruits increase. Their juice is now considered among the best in Belize.

Concretely, the research in citrus cultivation on pine ridge soil showed that the best results are achieved thus:

1. By piling up the top soil in rows to create a ridge where the plant can grow, raised above the water. Thereby the plants get much more favorable conditions. The otherwise almost dead (= oxygen poor) soil begins to breathe, and new life appears in the form of insects and bacteria inside the soil ridges.

2. By using both rock phosphate and bone meal (produced in Belize) in connection with the planting. Very good results have been achieved with regard to both growth and fruit production by combining this basic fertilization with the spraying of foliar fertilizer.

3. Analyses and experiments led to, that the addition of fertilizer (with the exception of lime/dolomite lime) must be done in the form of foliar fertilization 3-6 times during the year. This proved to be a great economic, as well as a labor technical advantage. Because of its advantages, many of the large commercial citrus farmers in the country have likewise begun to use this method during the past three years. All of them report increased production, better growth, and reduced fertilizer expenses.

Another concrete result is, that it has been proven possible to grow bananas on the pine ridge soil by adding the right kind and necessary amounts of nutrients.

Experiments with fertilizers and the addition of nutrients to the soil showed that it is preferable to use marl (which exists in large quantities in Belize) rather than lime to reduce the acidity of the soil. Experiments were also made using mango and banana waste as fertilizer. In 1988 100 cattle were bought, and in connection with this a compost system was started. The cattle lived on the banana waste and grass, and delivered fertilizer. Various compost mixtures were experimented with, which showed good results: The compost used as fertilizer increased the banana size with ½ inches, and the weight of the banana bunches from 21 to 28 lbs.

Investigations, Seminars, and Publicity Regarding the Results
Two seminars were held for the dissemination of the experiences from the "Scientific Farming in the Caribbean." Meetings regarding the research were held with Agribusiness World Wide, Fruit Traders Journal, and Florida Growers.

The Growers’ Association in Belize makes good use of the laboratory for soil analyses. Since that time, the equipment has been handed over to the Banana Growers’ Association of Belize, and the laboratory has been expanded to also include the control of nematodes and more detailed sigatoka measurements, and has had great importance for the development of the banana industry in Belize.

To conclude, this research project has confirmed that it is possible to cultivate different forms of crops on very poor soil by using scientific methods - and by developing new fertilizing methods and plant protection, combined with using the knowledge gained in agriculture from all over the world.

And it has showed that it is possible to use these methods in an actual commercial agricultural production, which also lies within the economic possibilities of the farmers in the Third World.

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