Survival of cotton industry depends on talks with new operator of sugar industry

Barbados’ Sea Island cotton industry could be on the brink of collapse with just a single field planted of the prized fibre, the industry’s top official has confirmed.

While Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir has vowed to not let the industry die, Adlai Stevenson, the head of the state-supported cotton ginnery has predicted that the survival of the sector now rests on the success of an ongoing negotiation with the cooperative that has taken over the sugar industry.

The recently divested, state-owned sugar growing and milling enterprise, the Barbados Agricultural Management Company Co. Ltd (BAMC), also grew most of the island’s cotton.

Despite huge global demand for West Indian Sea Cotton, one of the highest-priced varieties in the world at more than $20 (US$10) per pound, domestic production has continued to plummet as pest infestation and labour shortages took hold.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Stevenson, chief executive officer of Exclusive Cottons of the Caribbean Inc., the 20-year-old joint venture between the government and cotton growers, said only one field of cotton was planted across the island this year. That four-acre field at the Ministry of Agriculture in Graeme Hall, Christ Church is expected to produce only about 4 000 pounds of cotton and an extremely small quantity of lint to sell on the international market.

Before a pest invasion devastated the industry, Barbados would generate approximately $1 million in revenue from exporting the high-quality cotton lint. Stevenson said he expected this year’s earnings to be less than half of that figure.

“There clearly is a shortage and this means that we don’t have the product to sell, that our customers are going to have to look elsewhere for cotton to buy,” he said.

Italy is the main export market for Barbados’ cotton which has been growing here since the earliest years of settlement nearly 400 years ago.

Stevenson explained that the recent sale of the state-owned BAMC had critical implications for the cotton industry. He confirmed that the new entity overseeing the former BAMC lands – the cooperative-owned Agricultural Business Company Ltd. (ABC) – is in negotiations with Exclusive Cottons.

Prior to privatisation, BAMC produced more than 80 per cent of the cotton. In some instances, as much as 50 acres were planted in the fibre, spanning several estates, including Mount Pleasant and Parish Land, St Philip and Wakefield and Edgecliff, St John.

“We’re still hopeful that they come back in and continue in that role,” Stevenson said, adding that he hoped the discussions would conclude around March/April as planting is scheduled to begin in August.

Cotton harvesting usually runs from late February or early March to May.

In order for the industry to thrive, the island needs to produce at least 80 000 pounds of lint, said Stevenson.

This year, people interested in picking the crop will have handheld harvesters to make their job easier. About 40 harvesters were imported at a cost of $16 000.

The pickers are also set to benefit from a 50-cent per pound increase if they reach a certain benchmark, Stevenson said, adding the price of each pound picked over the past 15 years was $2.00.

Minister Weir reported that he was putting measures in place to save the industry from demise. He said cotton would be a rotational crop on the ABC lands for non-sugar and energy production purposes.

“Cotton is one of the crops that we’re gonna use for rotation but our first objective is to get the sugar industry settled, obviously, because of the privatisation,” he said.

The next step is to work with Exclusive Cottons and the Agriculture Research Department to plan out how much cotton we are going to grow going forward and to also make sure that we put more effort into getting cotton [production] back up to where it used to be. It is going to take time.

“I’m including a project in the Estimates to speak to how we’re going to rebuild the cotton industry and this is not just going to be some knee-jerk approach. This is going to be a full project that calculates the amount of land we’re going to need, the amount of cotton we’re gonna produce and how it’s going to be managed.”

Weir declared that the previous manner in which the cotton fields were managed was unacceptable.

He said that the ministry would also be establishing a new unit and a local industry expert would oversee the industry’s management. He said there were a handful of candidates with strong knowledge of the domestic industry and it was merely a matter of selecting the right leader.

Weir told Barbados TODAY: “I want a manager to work with Exclusive Cottons so that we can produce for them the amount of cotton they need for export and then look at how we can re-establish a ginnery here in Barbados to be able to deal with our own cotton . . . . Now that the sugar industry is settled, I can now get around to this project I wanted to establish since I took office.

“I’m saddled with trying to get a whole set of land that is out of production back into production [and cotton is one of the crops I want to focus on]. We have to get the private sector on board and that is where my focus is – the private farms [other than those operated by ABC]. They used to do cotton before and we have to get them back on board. We have to have a real cotton project because if you don’t have the scale that would attract people for the economic value, then you would find out people don’t participate.

“I am in the process of setting up a Crop Production Unit within the BADMC [Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation] and coming out of that unit, I’m going to have some of the most experienced farmers in Barbados. So, therefore, I think we would be in a good place to plan our agriculture, plan food security and plan all the rotations that we have to do around sugar, vegetables, root crops and of course cotton.”

Asked if there would also be a pay increase that cotton pickers could benefit from, the minister said: “We are going to do a full project. So once that project is done, we will consider all the variables and we would then determine how we’re going to approach the harvesting of the cotton as well. We can’t continue with business as usual where this is concerned.”

Stevenson declined to give statistics on the island’s performance last year but cotton production has fallen steadily over the years. In 2022, 17 956 pounds of cotton was harvested, producing 6 000 pounds of lint, earning $138 000.

In 2021, the harvest was 27 845 pounds of cotton, from which 9 282 pounds of lint was produced. In 2020, 32 703 pounds of cotton produced 10 901 pounds of lint.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb