insist on growing particular crops regardless of the risks involved.
Strategic planning does not take into account possible pest and
disease outbreaks. Often crop choice depends solely on calculated
marketing risks, pest problems being considered only after a crisis
has arisen.
 Vegetable farmers seldom risk cultivating anything exotic.
 They grow only those commodities for which there is a sure
 market, i.e., they respond to dictates from the consumer popula-
 tion. Nonetheless, prices are dictated by the farmer who takes full
 advantage of the fact that within the population of Trinidad and
 Tobago demand is somewhat set. Cost of inputs is therefore not a
 very limiting factor in production; excessive amounts of pesticide
 are often applied without regard to effect on the final cost. Over-
 fertilization is the norm, despite the fact that it may cause some
 disorders with consequent increase in susceptibility to pests and
 diseases. As the Trinidadian consumer develops more North
 American eating habits, the range of vegetable crops for which
 there is high demand is significantly reduced so that farmers now
 tend to grow the same limited set of crops throughout the year.
 Many of the crops which are in high demand share the same
 pests, making pest management more difficult.
 Lack of processing and packaging industries forces all farmers
to all aim production towards the fresh market. Thus, a totally
unblemished product is always desirable and growers aspire to
achieve this goal at all costs. The farmer is emotionally satisfied
when he harvests an attractive looking commodity. This may col-
our his perspective in making realistic assessments of the
economics of his situation. Most do not keep accurate records and
do not yet realize that increased yields through use of new
varieties do not always justify the costly inputs which are
necessary to maximize such yields. Since the highest yielding
varieties are invariably the most susceptible to pest attack, the
time and expenditure needed for pest management should be
carefully weighed against profits from the increased yields. Con-
sumer taste largely determines farmers' selection of varieties for
production. Sometimes farmers are forced to choose high risk
varieties because of the physical appearance of the marketed com-
modity rather than the varieties' ability to tolerate environmental
stresses. There has been, for example, an insistence on cultivation
of Floradel tomatoes during the wet season rather than the more
heat tolerant Roma variety.

Pesticide Usage
 Pesticide application is the major, and in many cases the only,
pest control strategy practiced since it affords farmers economy of
time. Application techniques do, however, leave much to be
desired. Accuracy of dosage is seldom a consideration as farmers
simply cannot be bothered with tedious calibrations. Use of ex-
cessively concentrated mixtures thus becomes the norm, as does
over application at unnecessarily high frequencies. In Trinidad,
the pesticide market enjoys a tremendous degree of freedom and
the absence of control has encouraged a situation in which the
vegetable farmer has very easy access to all types of pesticides.
Many formulations, such as granular carbofuran and aldicarb, are
being used on crops such as lettuce and celery by farmers who re-
spond firstly to well orchestrated sales techniques and later to
their short-term observations of reduced evidence of pest
damage. Long-term perspectives with respect to environmental
sanitation and stability, or a healthy community are nonexistent.
 The great variety of formulations currently available can be
quite confusing to the average farmer, and a spontaneous genera-
tion of experts in pesticide technology occurs in most farming
communities. Some farmers, while being familiar with trade or
common names of pesticides, have absolutely no concept of the
significance of the various formulations; an EC 50 formulation
may be applied at the same rate as that recommended for use of
the EC 20 formulation. The wide range of available application


equipment further complicates the process of accurate pesticide
delivery. The quality of available equipment is also cause for con-
cern. Proper quality control, more restricted importation, and in-
sistence on adequate maintenance services may assist in allevia-
tion of some of these problems.
 An appreciable understanding of the natural enemy popula-
tions and their significance in pest management seems to be lack-
ing among our vegetable farmers. Fear of losing a crop motivates
them to spray anything which flies or crawls. This has led to
development of a number of secondary pest outbreaks,
resurgences and resistances within intensive vegetable growing
areas. Examples include pin-worm outbreaks in the early 1970's,
mole cricket resistances in the early 1980's and current mite and
leaf miner outbreaks. Speed, rather than accurate and judicious
methods of pesticide application, is the major priority. Farmers in
Aranguez, for example, find it more convenient to apply Aldrin
or Dieldrin by first saturating the dammed drains with the
chemicals and then splashing buckets of the treated water some
distance across the fields. In this manner, chemical application
and irrigation occur in one operation, economy of time taking
precedence over considerations such as economy of material,
health of the worker and foliar toxicities. Pesticide application in-
variably occurs whenever the farmer has sufficient free time for
the exercise. The influence of light and temperature sensitivities
are seldom considered. Use of boots and other protective gear is
usually viewed as an element which reduces speed. This fact,
coupled with the physical discomfort created for the wearer in hot
weather, has placed protective gear on the "negative list" of many
farmers. Perhaps larger more highly mechanized vegetable farms
would lend themselves more naturally to pesticide technology.
 Because of the large size of pesticide packages, storage is a real
problem for the small farmer and often results in a great deal of
careless dumping and excessive application. Perhaps many of the
problems involved in pesticide application could be avoided if
farmers had the opportunity to purchase a pesticide control ser-
vice provided by trained and licensed personnel. Since the
farmers' greatest problem appears to be insufficient time to plan
and implement sound pest management programmes, he might
be able to concentrate on other areas of farm management if he
were relieved of these responsibilities. Perhaps a reasonable pest
control programme for the entire farming unit could be worked
out, but legal control of land which has been distributed for
agricultural purposes then becomes imperative. Centralized
management of intensive areas of production may be beneficial.

Research and Transfer of Technology
 Comparatively little research has been done in the area of
management of vegetable crop pests in Trinidad and Tobago.
Basic information on yield reduction, host ranges, seasonal
population densities and geographic distribution is wanting,
while applied research is heavily based on very short-term
chemical control for farmer servicing. Farmers and others not able
to appreciate the slow process of meticulous and precise data col-
lection, frequently push extension officers into situations in
which they must supply control information as instantaneously as
do the agroshop dealers. In the absence of detailed and critical
assessments of individual problems, a series of misfortunes have
occurred resulting in a lack of trust in both extension and research
personnel. Generally the vegetable farmers maintain much more
contact with agroshop dealers than with professionals and even-
tually these dealers are perceived as the true experts in the field
by both farmers and extension officers. This serves to reinforce
the bias towards chemical application as the ultimate strategy in
pest management.
 Since effects of malpractices in pest management are usually
not observed within the short term, farmers tend to disbelieve
and ignore cautions expressed by professionals. Researchers in


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