production service supports such as prices, subsidies, transport,
storage facilities and shipping are designed to assist the marketing
of non-plantation produce in the region, the present system seems
destined to remain with all its weaknesses. And agricultural pro-
gress is unlikely to take place without some improvement in
technology.
 In many Caribbean economies, a large proportion of the
labor is devoted to the production of food crops. It is thus impor-
tant that technological improvements be made in the production
process so as to free labor for the production of other goods. This
may be accomplished by increasing the productivity of labor so
that a smaller proportion of the agricultural workers is needed to
produce the .food necessary for subistence. Unfortunately, this is
not so readily effected. Many aspects of Caribbean farming militate
against the easy transference of the advanced technology of U.S.
farming. Small farm size may rule out the use of some machinery,
while the steep to precipitous slopes of some territories may make
them useless. Energy costs are very high and may be a deterrent,
and spare parts and maintenance services may not be readily
available. High daily temperatures, high humidity, salty air and
infertile soils are environmental factors that may damage machi-
nery. Regional farmers rightly associate an increase in risks with a
change in technology. Since many have little wealth and exist on
low incomes, they are unwilling to risk the loss of their wealth
to try out new methods which have not proved superior to the
ones previously used. Again, because of the prevailing small size
of production units, and because most innovations --like fertilizers,
pesticides, insecticides -- involve additional expenditures, total
costs are likely to be increased at lower levels of output as a result
of technological changes.
 The foregoing paragraphs do not exhaust all the meaningful
comparisons that may be made between mainland agriculture and


Caribbean farming. However, an attempt was made to focus on a
select few of the more significant ones. A few others of equal
significance may include land and soil capability, weather patterns,
financial arrangement, capital investment processes, land tenure,
specialization versus diversification, and crop insurance. In addi-
tion, the tradition of farming as a respectable and wealth-producing
occupation on the mainland is not similarly regarded in the Carib-
bean, and this works to the detriment of the latter. The myriad of
farms throughout the region are often too small to operate as
viable economic units, and the unavailability of farm labor in a sea
of unemployment is an anomaly of the region. Caribbean business-
men have not come forward with entrepreneurial skills to organize
marketing to any degree approaching that of North American
farmers, and higglering remains the closest to any organized struc-
ture. The adoption of some aspects of the technological innova-
tions that have kept mainland production levels high is desirable
for increasing regional productivity and releasing labor, but envir-
onmental, financial and institutional factors appear to conspire to
deny these benefits to the region.


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