#BTColumn – Who first brought drip irrigation to Barbados?

by Peter Webster

“Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.” – Louis D. Brandeis

“A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.” – Robert Heinlein

In his recent publication for World Food Day, the Minister of Agriculture suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture had introduced drip irrigation to Barbados about 30 years ago, probably under the advice of his staff.

The facts are that drip irrigation or trickle irrigation is a micro-irrigation system that can effectively reduce the amount of water and nutrients needed to be applied to crops, at lower pressure and less energy, by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surface. The goal is to place water and nutrients directly into the root zone and minimise evaporation. Drip irrigation systems distribute water through a network of filters, valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters. Depending on how well designed, installed, maintained, and operated it is, a drip irrigation system is usually more efficient in terms of water and energy usage than other types of irrigation systems, such as surface irrigation or sprinkler irrigation.

The use of a plastic emitter in drip irrigation was developed in Israel. Instead of releasing water through tiny holes, easily blocked by tiny particles, water is released through larger and longer passageways which use friction to slow the passage of water inside a plastic emitter, though still needing a filter to ensure that no blockages occur. The first experimental system using this type of drip emitter was established in 1959 by Simcha Blass the inventor, who later (1964) partnered with Kibbutz Hatzerim in Israel to create an irrigation company called Netafim. Together they developed and patented the first practical surface drip irrigation emitter.

The first drip irrigation system in Barbados was imported by Colonel Herbert Dowding in 1968 (55 years ago), from Netafim and installed at Water Hall Plantation, St James on about five acres of food crops.

The Ministry of Agriculture subsequently imported a Netafim drip system in 1972 (51 years ago) which was installed on about 15 acres of fruit crops at Haggatts, St Andrew that were being used for research and propagation. Subsequently, about 100 acres of fruit crops were planted by the Ministry in the area around Haggatts, which was vested in the Barbados Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC). These were supposed to have been distributed by BADC to small farmers. This was in line with the then ministry’s policy of creating fruit as the major crop in the Scotland District of Barbados.

The drip irrigation system and the fruit farms at Haggatts were subsequently neglected and not adequately managed or maintained. They were all allowed to degenerate resulting in a waste of Barbados taxpayers’ money. This is a serious indictment of the performance of our civil servants and the BADC. Like the Auditor General’s Report and the $18 billion that is owed – who cares? Lots of hot air and no action!