TRINIDAD

Coffee beans: grounded by worm (Credit: FAO)Caribbean agriculture has been laid low by a
large variety of pests and a
series of hurricanes and
drought. "We have a crisis
in agriculture in the
Caribbean," admits Hayden
Blades, executive director of
the Caribbean Agricultural
Research and Development
Institute, based in Trinidad.

The latest threat is the
hibiscus mealy bug, which is
spreading havoc through the
eastern Caribbean, attacking
a wide range of crops. In
Jamaica, coffee farms are
under attack from a worm
that attack berries before
they are reaped. Similarly,
while the mealy bug has
extensively damaged crops
on the island of Grenada,
banana farms in the north-
ern Caribbean have been hit
by the black sigatoka fungus.

Aggressive efforts are
afoot to halt the pests in their
tracks. With the assistance
of the UN's Food and
Agriculture Organization,
regional governments are
drawing up plans to eradicate the screw-worm, a fly
that attacks cattle mainly in
Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the
Dominican Republic and
Trinidad and Tobago. "No
one country can deal with
these problems on its own,
and there must be regional
collaboration," says Blades.

The consequences on
trade in the region have been
disastrous. Several countries
have hatted food imports
from Grenada. While the us
says it will not halt imports
from Grenada and Trinidad
and Tobago, it will tighten
inspection of imports from
these countries.