Rice is an important product for British Guiana although it is grown in Jamaica and
Trinidad and Tobago on a smaller scale. Rice is grown on farms averaging 10 to 14 acres
in British Guiana and there are a large number of very small producers.

 Bananas is the second most important crop to the West Indies as a whole and is grown
for export in Jamaica, the Windward Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago. Although it is
sometimes grown by estates it is mainly associated with peasant cultivation.

 The other main export products are citrus, grown and processed in Jamaica, Trinidad
and Tobago, and Dominica, although smaller quantities are exported from St. Lucia,
Grenada and British Guiana; coffee, grown on a rather smaller scale in Jamaica and
Trinidad and Tobago; and coconut products, exported mainly for the interterritorial
trade. Spices are important in Grenada and are also of some significance in Jamaica.
All these crops except coconut are produced mainly by small growers. Although estates
account for a significant part of the total product and acreage, the largest number of grow-
ers is found in the smaller size groups. Sea island cotton is grown on any important
scale only in St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, Antigua, Montserrat and St. Vincent. It is declin-
ing in importance but is still the main crop in Montserrat and Nevis. All export agri-
culture, excluding sugar, accounts for 2.3 % of the gross domestic product in Jamaica,
2.2 % in Trinidad and Tobago and 9.4 % in the Leeward Islands, Windward Islands and
Barbados. In British Guiana there are no important export crops other than sugar and
rice, both domestic and export accounting for 4.6 % of the gross domestic product.

 Great difficulties have been experienced in measuring exactly the scale of domestic
 food crop production in the West Indies and all figures must be treated with reserve.
 These crops are of course grown in all territories and are wholly peasant produced. The
 proportion which they contribute to the gross domestic product is approximately 4 % in
 Jamaica, 5 % in Trinidad and Tobago, 7% in the Leeward Islands, Windward Islands and
 Barbados, and 4 % in British Guiana.

 Livestock production has until recently always been mainly a peasant undertaking
 except for cattle ranching in British Guiana. Recently there has been a trend toward
 larger units, particularly in poultry and egg production and in beef production in Jamaica.
 The livestock population of the West Indies is fairly large, related to both human popula-
 tion and land area. All territories produce these products and peasant producers still
 predominate. The proportion contributed to the gross domestic product is approximately
 1.9% in Jamaica, 1.8% in Trinidad and Tobago, 2.1% in Leeward Islands, Windward
 Islands and Barbados and 3.2 % in British Guiana.

 The above remarks indicate that although the West Indies is mainly a primary produc-
 ing area, the importance of agriculture is not as great as in many countries of a similar
 stage of development.


 External factors
 As this study progressed, the external factors influencing the economic relationship
 between the various territories and each other and their relationship with the outside
 world underwent considerable changes. With the break up of the West Indies federation
 the plans for a customs union were immediately and indefinitely shelved. Two independent