John Hedden
Technology.
In my previous article I discussed some of the history and myths of agriculture and ended with the perception of agriculture in a modern Bahamas.
This article will attempt to deal with the subject of agricultural technology and it’s meaning for improvement of agricultural production.
The original technology of food production through the islands would have been the most basic. It is more than likely that the Arawak were not farmers at all. It is likely that the produce from the land, and the sea were harvested when necessary to provide an immediate source of food. There would have been little need for storage because the natural pantry was always open and access to fresh fish and fruits cannot be surpassed, even today.
These people lived in very close harmony with, and as part of, their natural environment. They reaped and never had to sow. It was only in later years when Europeans and Africans settled on the shores did a technology arrive that was alien to the islands. Agriculture is one of the most devastating practices to an environment because foreign species of both plant and animal are introduced, and man actually alters the physical environment as much as possible to be able to get the best yields for his produce. A third reason may be considered where high yields are sought at the expense of native crops, in order to produce an excess for sale or barter. This latter was the intention of the plantation approach to farm production. Metal hand tools were used to clear large tracts and foreign species were then grown on this land, Cotton planting is a good example, and here the native species were cut out of the land, and production of a single species on that same tract took place without any thought of soil strengthening, fertility or field rotations taking place. As we would expect, the result very quickly became a succession of poorer and poorer harvests, simply because this new technology was not able to take care of the most basic concern for a reasonable yield; water and soil fertility.
Needless to say the inheritors of these lands very quickly learned that continuing harvests would require a change in technology. The one that became used throughout the islands was known as ‘shifting cultivation’ with ‘slash and burn’ land clearing and preparation. This allowed farmers to rough clear a “task” of land and plant a succession of specific crops in order to allow a follow harvest of beans and peas, corn, root crops, benny (sesame), corn and melons. Usually after two seasons the fields were allowed to revert to “bush” for at least three years before they could be used again for crop production. This change in farming technique did allow a subsistence type of production to take place. Any excess was usually stored for leaner years, and of course the seeds for follow planting were taken out first. Sometimes in a really good year enough would be harvested for either barter or sale to another settlement or island. Sea weed, cave earth and fish remnants were used to ‘help’ the soil. Very little water was used in crop production, and so planting was done seasonally and “with the moon” in order to take full advantage of soil moisture for the young plants.
Livestock production followed a similar tradition with animals often being tethered in an area, and then moved frequently to another site. ‘Cutting Bough’ was the normal practice, with cinnecord, rams horn and other legumes being the favourite fodder because of their high protein content. Large livestock were not common and sheep, goat, yard chicken, and pigs were preferred.
This system of food production continued for several hundred years, and today is still practiced in many of the islands where mechanisation is not possible. Even the early commercial production of citrus and pineapples for the export trade followed this example with longer rotational times for land use being implemented.
It was really only after the second world war that agriculture saw a radical change in technology. The introduction of fertilisers, pest control chemicals and machines are what established more modern farming practices, and the latter were limited to the northern Pine Islands and Eleuthera and Cat Island. The introduction of the crawler tractor made us fall in love with the ‘Caterpillar D8’. Land preparation was now possible where the surface could be broken up, and a type of rocky soil produced. However this soil proved to be very alkaline due to its high Calcium content, plant nutrients were non existent and had to be added as fertilisers.
This introduced a newer technology of farming to the islands and along with this came the expatriate farmers such as Levy and the ‘Hatchet Bay’ products and the milk stands of Nassau. Others included Crockett and Scott in Abaco, and Scott Madison in Andros. Others eventually involved Gulf and Western, The Owens Illinois sugar plantation of 23,000 acres in Abaco, several large dairy operations in New Providence, and fruit production in all 3 northern pine islands.
So what is this new technology? It is in fact a newer approach to agricultural production where all aspects of crop production, from crop grow out to marketing are mapped out and planned before anything goes in the ground. Perhaps the 2 most important aspects of this are the use of irrigation, and the use of fertilisers. Water alone can increase field harvest by 100%, while a combination with fertility management can double the yield again. These 2 along with mechanisation which reduces labour costs, pest control which increases the marketable yield, and timely harvesting which improves quality, all make a significant contribution to better farm earnings. The farmers of North Andros who are constantly on the media releases are a product of a newer agricultural technology provided for them by the US AID programme (BARTAD) of the 1970’s. Under the present assistance provided by the government corporation BAIC these farmers have been given access to the farm inputs they have been waiting for all these years. In addition BAIC has assisted them with marketing seminars and direct access to clients through the BAIC website.
Other farmers on the central and southern islands have never had access to the training, the relatively improved soils, available water, and the immediate markets open just 25 miles away in New Providence. The very nature of the geology, climate and topography almost eliminates the use of mechanised farming on these more southerly islands.
It must be remembered that a major drawback to improving soil quality throughout the islands is the nature of the soil itself. We have no real soil profile. It is shallow, does not retain fertility or water. It will always be highly alkaline, and so makes many nutrients unavailable to the crop. Organic matter must be incorporated constantly because when it breaks down it disappears without altering the chemical profile of the parent calcium carbonate. In other words no amount of soil improvement practices will have any long term effect.
Becoming ever more popular with the farming community are 2 highly specialised technologies; greenhouse production and hydroponics. Both work by modifying the impact of the native environment on the crops. The former modifies light, humidity and temperature; while hydroponics seeks to modify the root zone medium. Over the years several attempts have been made with these 2 systems, but seasonality improvements have usually been in the order of 4 weeks on normal harvest periods. If this can be improved substantially then this technology will prove very useful.
On the negative side only about 2% of agricultural land is watered and fertilised efficiently, and pest control is very poorly performed throughout the islands. Efficient transportation is not at hand and shipping costs are extremely high.
So finally I will point out that even though the technology has started to become available to the farming community very few are able to take full advantage of it. For rapid advances in technology to take place support in the form of excellent extension services, physical infrastructure and good input sourcing must all be accessible. Farmer training is non existent and access to capital is more than remote because most farmers have no collateral. In addition farmers are like most of their fellow Bahamians, they are lousy businessmen and keep lousier records. Because of the general perception of agriculture in the psyche few locals who have capital will invest. Financial and property interests are much more attractive.
In my next article I will attempt to deal with land and infrastructure.
Mr. Hedden holds degrees in Botany from UWI Mona Campus and University of Reading UK and graduated from Government High School, Nassau, Bahamas. He has experience as a Horticulturalist for the USAID project BARTAD Andros, Horticulturalist for the Ministry of Agriculture at CAS (now GRAC), and then extension services. Mr. Hedden is now trying to establish a modern demonstration fruit and vegetable farm on 10 acres of 'crown' land. He presently lives on Abaco and has worked with farmers there for the last 25 years.
