History Of The Sugar Cane Industry In JamaicaReasons for the rapid decline in Jamaica sugar history output in the first half of the nineteenth century are extensive. It remains to be said that Jamaica, the world’s largest producer in the early part of the century, suffered more severely than any other colony. The high proportion of absentee owners, their extravagance, their failure to improve cultivation and processing methods in times of prosperity, the cultivation of unsuitable land, the dependence on slave labor which largely abandoned the estates after emancipation, together with changing British economic policy led to the collapse of the industry. This lasted for a century. Indeed the output of 100,000 tons of sugar in 1805 was not surpassed until 1937 a notable in Jamaica’s sugar plantation history.
In 1951 the (Commonwealth Sugar Agreement provided Jamaica with a secure market for 270,000 tons. Output soon exceeded that figure, and rose to a record of 506,000 tons in 1965. The decline that followed was caused partly by unattractive prices and the difficulty of obtaining labor in the fields. The mechanical harvesters and loaders that are being increasingly used to reap the crop are more wasteful than cutting and loading by hand. In 1971 output was 379,000 tons. About 300,000 tons were exported and the rest was used locally. About half of the total output was grown on estates: the other half was produced by some 24,500 cane farmers.
Cane fields occupy about 35 % of the arable land. By comparing various parishes it can be seen that the cane is grown chiefly on the lowlands. There stand the fourteen factories operating today. One of them, Frome, in the western part of the island, is the largest in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Another, Monymusk, which stands on the irrigated plains of Vere in southern Clarendon, is almost as big and is the only one producing refined white sugar. In addition to sugar Jamaica produces between 2 and 4 million gallons of rum a year and some molasses. Some wallboard is made out of bagasse.
History Of Bananas In Jamaica
Though the banana was introduced into Jamaica by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, it was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that American schooners, calling at north shore ports, began to take small quantities of the fruit back with them to the United States. They sold so well that American companies were formed to handle the trade, and regular shipments began in the 1880s. The Jamaican bananas history opportunity to earn a regular income from banana exports was welcomed by small farmers, and it was they who began the business to be followed, later, by estates.
The Jamaican sugar industry at that time was unable to compete with subsidized European beet sugar, and was in its most depressed state. By 1900 banana exports had become more valuable than sugar, and they remained so, apart from a few years, until the Second World War. The peak year was 1937, when Jamaica exported nearly 27 million stems, twice as many as any other country in the world. By this time the United Kingdom had become the chief purchaser and a large fleet of fast, refrigerated banana boats was operating between Jamaica and Britain.
Banana cultivation in Jamaica in the period between the two world wars would have been considerably greater had it not been for Panama disease. Not only did this fungus damage or kill the plants, but it infected the soil so that bananas could not again be grown on the spot for years. Several estates went out of production altogether. Output was maintained only by bringing
steep hill slopes into use. These were easily eroded and soon lost their fertility.
Then in 1936 a second disease leaf spot appeared, and soon afterwards in 1939 the Second World War began. During the war few ships could be spared for such luxuries as bananas, and in the worst year of all, 1943, only 289,000 stems were exported. After the war there was a fairly rapid recovery in spite of Panama disease, but in 1951 a severe hurricane destroyed millions of plants. The government then helped farmers to plant a new variety of banana which was immune to the disease. The Jamaican banana industry was almost crippled. So much so the laborers began to make the popular Jamaican banana fritters.
Bananas are grown on about 17 %, of the arable land. The bulk of the output comes from estates and small holdings in the valleys and on the foothills near the northern and eastern coasts, but some is grown on estates in drier areas where irrigation is used to supplement rainfall. The estates have the advantage that they can afford to tend the bananas carefully, which is necessary if Lacatans and other recently developed varieties are to bear well.
They are very susceptible to leaf spot disease, which can only be controlled by regular spraying. They are easily damaged, so they have to be packed in padded boxes if they are to reach overseas markets in good condition. As Jamaican bananas have to compete with those from the Canary Islands, the Cameroons and several of the Commonwealth Eastern Caribbean territories, only the best can be accepted for export. Many small farmers, especially those in the hills, have found the conditions too exacting and the financial rewards too small to go on growing bananas for export. For the island as a whole, exports averaged 173,000 tons a year in the 1960s. A further 40,000 tons a year were consumed in Jamaica itself.
In contrast to sugar and other seasonal crops, bananas provide growers with a steady income throughout the year. They also give good shade for young cocoa and coffee plants before they begin to bear, and grow well with coconuts a common combination in Jamaica. |
