Govt renews papaya revival push as disease pressures linger

Barbados is stepping up efforts to revive its collapsed papaya industry, with agricultural officials launching a two-day Papaya Nutrient and Integrated Pest Management Workshop on Tuesday.
Acting Chief Agricultural Officer Michael James said the workshop comes as the island works to rebuild a sector devastated in the 1980s by bunchy top, a disease that “really wrecked the industry”.
James noted that the ministry’s agronomy team has been researching varieties that show greater tolerance.
“You can’t always be spraying,” he said. “Some pesticides are being banned… so one technique is to look at varieties that might be tolerant to this disease. We’ve had some measure of success, but we still need to do more.”
He stressed that collaboration among stakeholders like IICA, CARDI, UWI and government is essential to avoid duplication and accelerate solutions.
“Normally you have persons going off on their own… That’s not how it should go,” he said.
The workshop includes sessions on nutrient management, pest control and a field tour aimed at bridging “theory with practice”.