The importance of agriculture in the West Indies economy
 The area is underdeveloped in that per capital income is low, unskilled agricultural
labour is the main activity, productivity is low and capital is deficient; also some skills
still have to be imported. All these conditions are, however, not of the lowest that can
be found, even in the Western Hemisphere, and Table 1 (see appendix) indicates the posi-
tion which the West Indies occupies in the Americas, in terms of per capital income.

 These characteristics are found in all parts of the West Indies. Other characteristics,
which are not common to all underdeveloped countries, are that land is a relatively
scarce resource and unskilled labour a relatively plentiful one. Agriculture, although im-
portant, is not as important as in many underdeveloped countries. In 1959 the export
agriculture, sugar cane growing, domestic agriculture, and livestock and fishing sectors
contributed about 15 % to the gross domestic product of Jamaica (see Table 3b). In the
same year the agriculture sector accounted for 12.5% of the gross domestic product of
Trinidad and Tobago (see Table 4c). In 1960 the export agriculture and other agriculture
sectors contributed about 38.5 % to the gross domestic product of the Leeward Islands,
Windward Islands and Barbados (see Table 5b). In British Guiana that year the agricul-
ture and the livestock, forestry, and fishing sectors accounted for about 27.2 % of the gross
domestic product (see Table 2. 5. ii). With the exception of the Leeward Islands, Wind-
ward Islands and Barbados the industries included in each sector are shown in the expla-
natory note for part two.

 Trinidad and Tobago's main industry is oil mining (production) and refining, and in
 Jamaica and British Guiana, the mining industries (bauxite and alumina) contribute very
 considerably to the economies.

 Another characteristic of this region is that although it is underdeveloped, the cash
 economy is advanced, and the non-market sector is smaller than in many countries of
 equal living standards. This sector varies, however, from territory to territory and is
 estimated at about 12 % of the gross domestic product in the Windward Islands and about
 2 % in Trinidad and Tobago. Even in the Windward Islands it is a low proportion as com-
 pared, for instance, with countries of Africa where it may reach 65 o of the gross domes-
 tic product.

 Trinidad and Tobago is the most prosperous and developed of the areas with which we
 are concerned (see tables to part two). Jamaica has the next highest per capital product,
 Barbados and British Guiana are probably comparable in terms of real income and in all
 these territories the price level is rather lower than that for Jamaica; finally the Lee-
 ward Islands of St. Kitts and Antigua are slightly more prosperous than Montserrat and
 the Windward Islands. These last territories approximate more to the accepted model of
 undeveloped territories.

 Sugar is the most important agricultural industry in the West Indies and it has been
 estimated that it provides a living for about three quarters of a million people, including
 dependents of workers. Sugar is grown in Jamaica where it contributes 6.0% of the gross
 dclme:itic product; in Trinidad and Tobago where it contributes 3.0%; in British Guiana
 where it contributes 17.0%; in Barbados where it contributes 28%; and in the Leeward
 Islands where it contributes 26 %. Cane is grown by peasants and estates but the latter
 account for practically all the production in British Guiana and St. Kitts.