I have also visited the Agricultural Research Service's Tropical Research Station at Mayaguez, and note there
 has been extensive involvement in this week's session of Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Cooperative State
 Research Service (CSRS), and Extension Service (ES) personnel, reflecting their participation in plans to
 strengthen the President's Caribbean Basin Initiative. Dr. Darshan Padda, Director of the Experiment Station,
 and Vice-President for Research and Land Grant Program at the College of the Virgin Islands, has an important
 role in these activities.
 In the brief 25-year history of the College of the Virgin Islands, I'm told there have been only two presidents,
 and that Dr. Arthur Richards, the current president, is native-born. The college is part of the land-grant
 system-in the 1862 category-and, along with the Experiment Station is performing a valuable service as a
 part of the nation's research and education system.
 This seems to be a most appropriate time to recognize the importance of agricultural research and education.
 Almost 200 years ago President George Washington said: "I know of no pursuit in which more real and impor-
 tant services can be rendered to any country, than by improving on its agriculture-its breed of useful
 animals--and other branches of a husbandman's cares." We find similar statements by Jefferson, and others
 right on through the years.
 Today we are aware of the importance of continually training skilled scientists and technicians in the
 agricultural sciences so that we can improve production efficiency-bottom line profitability-in agriculture.
 We are well aware that we can no longer focus all of our attention on localized problems and situations. We
 operate in a worldwide marketplace, and we face reality.
 Let's look at some of the things we are doing right now to help meet research and education needs in this im-
 portant Caribbean area. Publicly supported agricultural research in the United States' part of the Caribbean is
 conducted mainly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Science and Education research arm, the
 Agricultural Research Service, and the agricultural experiment stations operated by local governments.
 Through the Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS)--also one of the Science and Education agencies-
 the Department helps support high priority tropical and subtropical agricultural research. This is accomplished
 through a Special Research Grants program to agricultural experiment stations in the Caribbean area.
 The CSRS Tropical and Subtropical Research Grants are, with your cooperation, helping to solve high priority
 research problems that will not only assist the Caribbean area toward becoming more self-sufficient in feeding
 itself, but will also have a spill-over effect of assisting other tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
 You will recall that tropical and subtropical research is authorized under the Agricultural Trade Assistance
 Act of 1966. During the World Food Conference in Rome in 1974, U.S. policy statements made clear that the
 United States cannot feed the world, but that it would assist developing countries in strengthening their own
 production capabilities.
 In keeping with this commitment, we are working together to develop two principal research centers. One
 operates in the Western Region and principally involves the Universities of Hawaii and California and the
 Guam Agricultural Experiment Station and is known as the Pacific Basin Advisory Group.
 Studies on vaccine development for ruminant anaplasmosis and identification and characterization of
 geminiviruses occurring in the Caribbean Basin are being made at the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.
 There is a cooperative grant to the Puerto Rico and Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations on improving
 tomatoes under high temperature and humidity. These are part of 42 grants totaling $1,490,000 awarded to the
 Caribbean area in 1984 by CSRS.
 Cooperative Extension programs began in the Virgin Islands in 1972, when the University received land-grant
status. Before that there was a federal extension program. All Extension programs in the area are active-agricul-
ture, natural resources, community and rural development, 4-H, and home economics and human nutrition.
 Home gardening continues to grow in popularity because of continued rising costs of food, plus the desire for
fresh, high quality produce. About 200 families planted gardens for the first time last year.
 Whole milk is the only agricultural product where supply nearly meets demand on St. Croix and it generates the
largest part of agricultural receipts for the territory. Rangeland constitutes about 75 % of all land now devoted to
agricultural production in the islands. Most rangelands are poorly managed, and Extension is working with pro-
ducers to survey these lands and determine their condition.
 Pest management scouting services and training programs have been available in the Islands only a few years.
Local agriculture is rebuilding, and farm enterprises have increased 80% since 1970. Pests typically reduce yield
as much as 35 to 70%. Extension is involved in developing pest management systems.
 The National Agricultural Library (NAL) in Beltsville, Maryland, provides many useful services to the Carib-
bean Basin countries. Under a mutually beneficial program, NAL exchanges USDA publications for publica-
tions from institutions in a number of Caribbean countries. As a part of its general international services, it also
provides photocopies of journal articles, and answers reference questions from agriculturalists in these countries.
As a major participant in the FAO-sponsored AGRIS information system, NAL is working with these countries
to build a major international database. Its single most important contact, however, comes in cooperation with
the Agency for International Development (AID).
 NAL administers funds from AID to provide a heavy volume of library services, especially current awareness
service and document delivery, to AID missions, individual scientists, and major institutions in the Caribbean,
such as the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute. We hope you will take advantage of
this agricultural information source.
 I hope this brief sketch of the Department of Agriculture's cooperative endeavors in the Caribbean Basin is
enough to whet your appetites to learn more about programs of benefit to us all. And I hope you are convinced
of USDA's keen interest in and sustained support for agriculture in the Caribbean Basin.


PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY-VOL. XX


10