Pest Management and the

Vegetable Farmer in Trinidad and Tobago

 Mona T. Jones
 Entomologist
 Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Food Production
 Central Experiment Station, Centeno
 Arima, Trinidad


 Trinidad and Tobago have historically not been big
vegetable producers and during peak agricultural production,
impetus was on estate cultivation. Traditionally, production
has occurred on small farms found as isolated units or as sub-
divisions within larger acreages. Producers generally have no
time and cannot employ labour required for well balanced
pest management while maintaining profits. Local consumer-
ism dictates the range and variety of vegetables cultivated.


Research is often not sufficiently relevant to field situations
and transfer of technology does not seem very effective,
resulting in unhealthy farming practices. More applied
research, effective education of farmers and consumers, ob-
jecivity in selection for land distribution and training, central
control of pest management, and greater incentive for
motivating more people toward total dedication to agriculture
are recommended.


 The commercial vegetable grower in Trinidad and Tobago is
relatively new in historic terms, as the islands have traditionally
not been big vegetable producers. When Agricultural production
was at its peak, the focus was on plantation crops such as bananas,
citrus, cocoa, coconuts, coffee and sugar. Currently vegetable
production is aimed at the local market and large quantities must
still be imported to satisfy local demands. Vegetable farmers have
traditionally worked small plots in contrast to the tree crop
farmers. Even where vegetables are cultivated on large acreages
such as in Aranguez, Pasea and Paramin, the holdings are divid-
ed into a number of subunits which may range from 0.05 to 12 ha
in size. Recently there has been some interest generated in
vegetable production in controlled environmental systems, but
much of this is still quite experimental and geared for very select
markets.
 Vegetable growers cultivate a wide range of crops, choice being
determined mainly by existing marketing conditions with little or
no regard for anything else. A ban on importation of tomatoes
and cabbages in 1981 led to an almost instantaneous increase in
production of those commodities. Without benefit of any new
technological development, a glut of those vegetables occurred
on the market. Production has since been tailored to suit market
demands while maintaining a price which is acceptable to
farmers.
 As stated previously, the average size of a single vegetable farm
in Trinidad and Tobago is quite small. At present there is no real
large-scale vegetable production. This situation does impose a
number of constraints on a well planned pest management pro-
gramme, particularly in areas of intense cultivation where the ac-
tivities of each individual farmer affect the entire ecosystem. In
the absence of integrated management of these estates, the
farmer is free to follow his own path with little or no considera-
tion for neighboring farmers. The small, isolated vegetable pro-
ducer is better able to manipulate the sequence of events in his
system. This type of farmer is predominant in Tobago, whereas in
Trinidad most vegetable producers cultivate in areas of intensive
farming. This paper focuses on the major pest management con-
straints encountered by both groups.

VOL. XX-PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY


Cultural Practices and Consumerism
 As many as 65% of the vegetable farmers are otherwise
employed, so that fewer than 35 % produce crops exclusively. Use
of intercropping and crop rotation as pest control strategies may
be implemented by individual farmers, but usually all vegetable
crop varieties which are cultivated occur throughout the year
within a district. Thus, there is always a ready source of food for
developing pest species, which may simply move from plot to
plot. In addition, many farmers demonstrate little or no concern
for fellow farmers. Because such a large percentage of farm
workers are otherwise employed, little time is available for the
valuable exercise of field sanitation, and crop residues are left
standing until there is urgent need for the space which they oc-
cupy. Many farmers merely abandon their plots after high level
infestations. The practise of clearing and burning after a crop has
been harvested does not exist and it is not unusual to observe
farmers dumping infested material in close proximity to their
neighbours' plots. Crops such as melongene and pigeon pea are
often left standing virtually unproductive in the field for con-
siderable periods of time. Many problems, particularly those
related to borers, occur during that phase of crop life and such
plants become reservoirs of infestation for newly planted fields.
Land preparation is usually not done properly and thus no accom-
modation for reducing pest populations occurs. Roguing is often
perceived as a loss of potentially productive material rather than a
reduction in infestation innocula. Cultural practices such as trap-
ping, bagging, etc. are generally considered too time-consuming.
 Some farmers, believing that the gamble will be in their
favour, avoid carefully paring and treating of planting material
while risking occurrence of serious outbreaks to which chemicals
may be hastily applied. Regret is demonstrated only when the
resultant loss becomes painful. Prophylactic measures are
generally limited to pesticide application, as this is often the least
time-consuming of pest control activities. Most planting material
is imported and although there is some monitoring of seed quali-
ty, the small farmer sometimes receives supplies via suitcases and
hand bags which usually escape security screening by quarantine
officers. Crop selection is seldom a consideration. Many farmers


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