Govt, Italian buyers plot revival of historic crop with major planting push

Barbados is poised to re-establish itself as a key player in the cotton industry, with government officials and Italian buyers convening next week to chart a path for large-scale production tailored to international demand, Barbados TODAY can reveal.

Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir disclosed on Friday that the project, which is being undertaken in collaboration with the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC), will not involve planting cotton for planting’s sake, but rather for the requirements of the buyer.

“We are looking at a comprehensive programme structure, and the acreage to be planted will depend on the appetite of the buyer. We are planting cotton for the buyer, not just to say we are planting cotton,” Weir told Barbados TODAY.

“We are currently putting together a project through the BADMC. We are going to do 400 acres of cotton to start with. We are presently negotiating . . . I must meet with the buyers probably about Tuesday. The cotton will be planted this August, so that we can have the cotton ready for the 2026 harvest.”

Thereafter, the production targets would be known so the country can work towards what is required, he said.

Weir explained that the acreage planted for the 2025 cotton crop is substantially smaller compared to what next year’s harvest is expected to achieve.

“The current cotton we have is on a very small scale. Really and truly, we just did that so we can get the cotton seed for the industry going. That is really nothing compared to what we are putting out this year August. The ministry continues to make sure they do the cotton-planting,” he stated.

The minister pointed out that the BADMC will have oversight of the management of the industry, which previously involved a third-party arrangement, but that “the entire cotton industry… I am looking at a full revamp.”

In a previous interview, Weir had said he wanted private stakeholders to take ownership of the industry while the government provides the support.

He had also insisted that the private sector must take the reins in managing the project, insisting that taxpayers and the government should not bear the burden of the revamped industry.

“Cotton cannot be driven by the government. I find that people misunderstand the culture in Barbados. The government is here to facilitate these things. There is a lot of money to be made from cotton. But I have to get the people who actually run the ginnery, people who are involved in the cotton industry, to take responsibility for actually managing the project, while we give them the support, even if it’s financial support and technical support,” the minister had declared.

Adlai Stevenson, the head of the island’s sole cotton ginnery, Exclusive Cottons of the Caribbean (ECC), recently revealed that last season farmers were paid $4.80 per pound for the lint, but this time around they will receive $7 per pound.

He also pledged to raise cotton pickers’ wages from $2.00 to $2.50 and over per pound for the 2025 crop.

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