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 Foreword

 Arthur A. Richards
 President
 College of the Virgin Islands

 In October of 1984 I had the distinct pleasure of welcoming a record number of partici-
pants to the annual meeting of the Caribbean Food Crops Society on St. Croix. I express a
great deal of pride on behalf of all the dedicated people of the College of the Virgin Islands
who organized and hosted the meeting activities. Further I express particular pride in the
fact that the 1984 conference was extremely successful in its objective to provide a forum for
knowledge to be shared among the region's professional work force concerned with the
problems of human welfare through agricultural improvements.
 The College of Virgin Islands is very pleased to sponsor the publication of the pro-
ceedings of the 1984 meeting. It is hoped that this document would be of benefit in carry-
ing forward the concept of the Caribbean community as an interdependent entity striving
to resolve quality of life problems for all the citizenry. This document also represents a
milestone for the College because its publication represents the first formal output of CVI's
Eastern Caribbean Center.
 The Center will be a collaborative endeavor between CVI and the people of the island na-
tions of the Eastern Caribbean, offering cooperative programs of study, research, and train-
ing. The Center, as proposed, is designed to address problems of the region by working
within the framework of established regional institutions, including the University of the
West Indies, by encouraging cooperation between the nations of the Eastern Caribbean and
the United States through this collaborative endeavor.
 Documentation proves that the similarity of culture and language, the commonality of
problems, the existing family ties with the people of the Eastern Caribbean and a diversity
of expertise available at CVI, combine to make the Center uniquely suited to contribute
meaningfully to the educational, economic, and social development of the Eastern Carib-
bean, supplementing the efforts of the governments, other institutions and the people of
the region.
 To accomplish this task, the College supports for the Center initiatives in five interdepen-
dent areas: agriculture and natural resources, human resource development training and
education, social and environmental research and development, telecommunications, and
scholarship assistance.
 We look forward with great anticipation to the role of the College of the Virgin Islands
and its Eastern Caribbean Center to serve as a catalyst for educational, technical, scientific
and cultural interchange among the Caribbean Nations.


VOL. XX-PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY