Comparative Epidemiology Study: Trinidad

Abstract

The cocoa industry of Trinidad and Tobago has been in steady decline since the years of peak production up to 1920, when it was the fourth largest producer world-wide (Wood, 1985). The appearance of witches’ broom disease reduced production and added to labour costs at a time when the world cocoa price was low, and some less profitable estates were already experiencing difficulties. Then, oil and petroleum products started to dominate exports, and wages for farm workers had to rise to keep pace with the industrial sector. A gradual abandonment of cocoa plantations started in Trinidad in the 1930s in the areas of lower soil fertility, and accelerated with the labour crisis until only the most favourably situated plantations survived. Annual cocoa production from the islands peaked at around 35,000 t and has fallen to about 3,000 t currently exported. The chances of reversing this decline are slim according to Wood (1985), and the cocoa industry may remain at its present level. The Trinidad & Tobago Cocoa Industry Board has embarked on a rehabilitation programme aimed at improving cocoa management and replacing old trees with a standard set of TSH (Trinidad Selected Hybrids) clones.