TABLE 3. Selected acreage and crop production, U.S. Virgin Islands, 1930, 1960,
1975, 1983.

 1930 1960 1975 1983

 Sugar cane (acres) 5,823 3,676 4 3
 Sorghum (acres) -- 3,531 403
 Selected field crops (acres)1 68 98 29 46
 Selected vegetables (acres)2 48 32 36 43
 Selected fruits/nuts harvested:
 Avocados 14,700 37,945 16,561 31,874
 Coconuts 27,008 26,107 46,376 18,066
 Bananas (bunches) 6,790 20,539 4,785 11,532
 Grapefruits (Ibs.) 1,280 1,375 9,750 4,615
 Limes/Lemons (Ibs.) 11,640 29,860 35,009 12,472
 Oranges (Ibs.) 3,840 3,758 21,055 6,246
 Plantains (bunches) 823 401 284 950
 Pineapples (boxes) 2,404 1,407 596 74
 Mangoes 407,683 173,457 217,807 209,845
 Selected Livestock/Poultry
 Sheep 1,533 2,152 3,122 2,882
 Goats 1,476 2,334 4,162 4,035
 Hogs 860 1,297 1,454 2,404
 Cattle 12,252 8,383 6,106 5,672
 Chickens sold 2,817 3,860 8,669 20,071
 Eggs sold (doz.) 4,353 92,050 315,023 284,107
 Milk sold (qts.) 494,492 565,781 3,126,063 1,858,145
 SOURCE: See Table 2.
 lCorn, dry beans, cassava, sweet potatoes, taniers, yams
 2Carrots, okra, onions, peppers, egg plant, squash, tomatoes,green beans,
 celery


Small-Scale Agriculture
 Table 4 provides a review of the impact of this shift from more
extensive to more intensive cultivation patterns orI the four
smallest-scale farm sizes reported in the Census of Agriculture:
under 3 acres, 3-9 acres, 10-19 acres, and 20-49 acres. These data
indicate that the percentage of total acreage in harvested
cropland contained in these small farms increased from 17% of


the total in 1960 to over 60% by 1983. As a consequence, in
terms of the percentage of commercial farms (sales of $2,500),
these four small-holding types dominated the field crops,
vegetable, fruit/nut, and poultry sectors. Between 1960 and
1983-even given the normal caveats associated with interpreting
percentages from very small numbers-under the pressures of en-
croachment and rising inflation, these trends generally inten-
sified with some noticeable differences in sub-specializations. For
example, in 1983 over half of all commercial field crop farmlands
were under 3 acres as were over one-third of all vegetable farms.
In 1983 in addition, 50% of all commercial fruit/nut farms were
3-9 acres in size as were about 80% of all poultry farms. The
other major shift was the dramatic increase in the proportion of
small-scale farm types which together rose from 40% in 1960 to
nearly 75% in 1983.
 The above information is helpful in interpreting the differing
small-farm profiles and their respective patterns of resource
utilization assembled in Table 5. First, in contrast to the average-
sized farm of 70-90 acres, these smaller holdings maintained con-
siderably higher acreage shares in cropland and predictably lower
acreage shares in pastures. Their consistently high levels of
woodland/other (roads, buildings, unused lots) is largely due to
the diseconomies of scale associated with their relatively small
sizes. Second, because of their small scale, proportionately fewer
of these small units used tractors and hired labor. These dif-
ferences, however, became less clear in 1983, perhaps partly as
the result of increasing sophistication and modernization as well
as more intensive cultivation of the small-scale specializations in
field crops, vegetables, fruits/nuts and so on.
 Third, within the four small-farm classes, increasing scale tends
to be associated as expected with increasing use of tractors, hired
machines, hired labor, rising levels of commercial sales, and fall-
ing levels of part-time (200 + days work off-farm) effort. These
trends reflect not only economies of scale in input utilization,
gradations in farming effort, and perhaps a changing pattern of


 TABLE 4. Distribution of harvested acreage and commercial' farms by crop and farm size, U.S. Virgin Islands: 1960, 1975, 1983.

 Under 3 ac. 3-9 acres 10-19 acres 20-49 acres TOTAL 0-49 as % of
 0-49 acres All Farms All Farms

 Harvested cropland (acres)
 1960 30 310 222 179 741 4,272 17.3
 1975 27 113 61 79 280 751 37.3
 1983 53 200 82 174 509 819 62.1
 % of total commercial farms:
 Crops 1960 6.7(4)2 33.3(20) 21.7(13) 10.0(6) 43 60 64.2
 1975 -- -- --
 1983 57.1(4) 42.9(3) -- 7 7 100.0

 Veg. 1960 16.7(1) 50.0(3) 33.3(2) -- 6 6 100.0
 1975 22.2(2) 33.3(3) 22.2(2) 11.1(1) 8 9 88.9
 1983 35.7(5) 21.4(3) 21.4(3) 14.3(2) 13 14 92.9

 Fruits 1960 15.6(5) 34.4(11) 18.7(6) 25.0(8) 30 32 93.8
 & Nuts 1975 29.0(9) 25.8(8) 9.7(3) 9.7(3) 23 31 74.2
 1983 25.4(15) 50.8(30) 8.5(5) 6.8(4) 54 59 91.5

 Poul. 1960 21.4(3) 21.4(3) 28.6(4) 14.3(2) 12 14 85.7
 1975 33.3(6) 11.1(2) 22.2(4) 16.7(3) 15 18 83.3
 1983 20.0(1) 80.0(4) -- 5 5 100.0

 Live- 1960 8.3(4) 10.4(5) 12.5(6) 8.3(4) 19 48 39.6
 stock 1975 15.4(16) 17.3(18) 12.5(13) 14.4(15) 62 104 59.6
 1983 17.9(20) 28.3(32) 11.6(13) 15.2(17) 82 112 73.2

SOURCE: See Table 2.
1Commercial farms indicate sales of $2,500 per year.

2Absolute number of farms in parentheses


VOL. XX-PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY