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Industry meets Italian demand with boost in production

by Emmanuel Joseph
4 min read
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Barbados is set to reinvigorate its cotton industry, with ambitious plans to increase production for the 2026 harvest significantly, the head of the lone cotton ginnery said on Monday.

 

Exclusive Cottons of the Caribbean (ECC) chief executive Adlai Stevenson said the company aims to expand from the current 22 acres to over 200 acres, responding to strong demand from Italian buyers for the prized West Indian Sea Island Cotton.

 

Preparations are already underway for a bigger and better cotton harvest next year, with officials expected to hire just over 100 Barbadians in the field.

 

Stevenson said while the acreage planted for this year’s harvest had fallen significantly below what was desired, talks are being held with the Ministry of Agriculture to determine what the 2026 production would be.

 

“It’s down; it’s way down. We hope to do significantly better in the coming season. We only have about 22 acres this year. We are down relative to the desired amount of acres we want…. The desired amount is over 200 acres,” Stevenson told Barbados TODAY.

 

“We are having some discussions about the preparations to see how high the number of acres we can have prepared, and we have been meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture as well on that.”

 

With the focus now on a build-up to next year’s harvest to boost overall production in light of a disappointing 2025 outlook, the chief executive is cautiously optimistic about the way forward.

 

“We would plant in mid-August ideally, so I think we are in good stead in terms of the preparations [for 2026] if we can get everything that we desire,” Stevenson said.

 

“We have significant demands from the Italians,” he assured on the question of exports.

 

He also appealed to farmers to return to cotton production and for more Barbadians to come forward to harvest.

 

“We would put out some advertisements to attract individuals to the fields. Because it’s a small acreage, we hope to get a good set of persons in [this year, and we hope that come August, we can significantly improve the output,” the chief executive said.

 

“We would want persons to respond when we put out the advertisements for people to come and pick the cotton. We would encourage more farmers to come back to cotton. There has been an increase in the amount of money that we are paying farmers and we will earn the country some foreign exchange.”

 

Last season, farmers were paid $4.80 per pound for the lint, but this time around they will receive $7 per pound, Stevenson said. He also pledged to raise cotton pickers’ wages from $2.00 to $2.50 and over per pound this year.

 

While the executive could not say how much the next season’s cotton production would be right now, he gave an assurance that his company would be in a better position to do so, nearer to harvest time.

 

Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir last week indicated that fresh life would be injected into the cotton industry with a new plan agreed upon by government and private stakeholders.

 

The plan will see harvesting start between February and March this year.

 

Weir told Barbados TODAY: “The entity that really is responsible for cotton – the Caribbean Sea Island Cotton – I met with them, and we worked out a cotton plan, where they will first start with 50 acres of cotton, which they have done; and then, what I want to do is get them up another 50, possibly a hundred acres and to meet with them next week.”

 

Weir said the land has already been identified, but he now has to bring the stakeholders to the table and get them to take ownership of the industry while the government provides the support.

 

Barbados’ unique geographical position, climate and soil make the island the ideal location for growing West Indian Sea Island Cotton — known by the biological name, Gossypium barbadense. The variety is rated as the highest grade, due mainly to the fibre’s length, strength and silkiness.

 

This cotton is mostly exported and transformed into exquisite apparel that is luxurious to the touch and highly durable.

 

Cotton has been grown in Barbados since the early colonial period when Barbadian planters inherited the crop from the indigenous Arawaks. By the 1650s, Barbados had become the first island in the British West Indies to export cotton to Europe.

 

Cotton was a major commercial crop in the region before sugar dominated cultivation.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

 

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