THE women and men weeding and pruning neat rows of freshly planted West Indian Sea Island Cotton at Barton Isle in the backlands of St Catherine worked tirelessly under the broiling mid-day sun last Tuesday, oblivious to the previous day’s bitter quarrel in Cancun, Mexico between the United States and African nations over the Bush administration’s heavy cotton subsidies.

Free trade talks, the Africans argued at the World Trade Organisation’s fifth ministerial meeting, are meaningless unless Washington stops throwing money at its farmers — approximately US$2.7 billion this year, down from US$3.81 billion in 2000.

According to trade experts, that kind of subsidy amounts to an average of more than US$100,000 for each of America’s 25,000-odd cotton farmers.

While the subsidy may be popular in the US, it helped fuel a rancorous dispute over agricultural subsidies at last week’s WTO meeting where delegates spent days trying to keep alive hopes of a global trade deal by the end of next year.

The Africans blame the American subsidy for overproduction and lower world cotton prices. But that, though, doesn’t seem to be affecting Jamaica’s four cotton farms — at Barton Isle, and Brompton in St Catherine; Agualta Vale in St Mary; and Ebony Park in Clarendon.

“Last year, we fetched a price of US$5.05 per pound and this year’s crop will be sold for US$10 per pound, a hundred-fold increase,” says Vitus Evans, chief executive officer of the Jamaica Agricultural Development Foundation (JADF), which manages the four farms.

“We are not really competing with producers in the US,” he tells the Sunday Observer, adding that the Sea Island Cotton produced here is “the best in the world”.

However, Evans admits that if local cotton farmers were getting any form of subsidy, the industry could do much better here, given that Jamaica now ranks as the largest producer of this non-traditional crop.

“A lot of people have shown interest,” he says, “but they have difficulty getting the financing.”

In an effort to assist those persons, Evans says the JADF has scheduled a meeting with the National Investment Bank of Jamaica to explore financing opportunities.

In addition, the JADF has signed a memorandum of understanding with the scientific department at the University of the West Indies to provide technical expertise to those interested in farming Sea Island Cotton.

Since 1995, the JADF has done research on growing Sea Island Cotton in Jamaica. In 2000, the state-run agency began semi-commercial export and earned J$27 million in 2002.

“Our approach when we started out was to look at non-traditional crops that could generate revenue and employment,” says Evans, who is convinced that cotton, if profitably produced in Jamaica, could replace coffee, cocoa, sugarcane and bananas as a major crop.

Introduced to the island in the early 1900s on an experimental basis by the Japanese, Sea Island Cotton, which is grown only in the West Indies, with Barbados and Antigua being the other producers, was first cultivated on the Caymanas Estate in St Catherine.

“This was a highly successful venture, one that we thought would be good for the island, so we capitalised on this expertise,” Evans explains.

Their judgement was sound, as last year the four farms yielded a combined 120,000 pounds of seed cotton, Evans reveals. The operations also provide seasonal employment for hundreds of persons, mostly women.

“Cotton has slowly been shaping the economic lives of the people in the area,” says agronomist and Barton Isle farm project manager, Derrick Simon, while enjoying an easy lunch hour rap with his workers Tuesday.

“It has not only improved the quality of life of the workers, it is also a morale booster for persons previously unemployed,” he adds.

One of his workers, Adalita Dunbar, agrees, though she would be happy with a bigger pay cheque. “I enjoy agricultural work, it is hard working in the cotton field, but staying home is tormenting, and while the pay is small, it helps,” says the 30-year-old mother of five children. “I have to be mother and father to the children, and the money helps them go to school.”

Workers like Dunbar form a steady pool of wage earners in Old Harbour and its environs, which is important for cotton production. The only form of modern technology used at Barton Isle is a state-of-the-art centre pivot sprinkler, which is hooked up by computer to a fresh-water aquifer on site. In operation, it blasts water at very high speeds, irrigating the entire field.

Workers are divided into two groups: Day’s workers, who are assigned tasks that pay $450 to $500 daily; and task workers, who are on contract and earn about 25 per cent more than the average day’s worker.

With a good blend of well-drained alluvial soils on the coastline and steady sunshine, operators expect a bumper yield from the 100-acre Barton Isle farm this year.

After it has ripened, the cotton is carefully hand-harvested, and there is good reason for this, instead of mechanisation.

“We aim to produce cotton which is free of extraneous matter,” explains Simon. “Once it touches the ground, it gets dirty and useless. Fashion across the world crave the clean, staple quality that we produce.”

After harvesting, the cotton is stored and its moisture content monitored on site. It is then compacted, baled and loaded into containers for the overseas market.

So great is the demand that the JADF has had to negotiate with its buyers in Holland, Italy, Japan and the United States to reduce their quotas in order that the product can be spread evenly in the highly competitive fashion and textile industries.

Unlike other varieties grown in Egypt, China and the United States, Sea Island Cotton, which favours the mild West Indian climate, has a unique blend of strong, delicate fibres — properties which have driven high market demand.

This level of demand for the crop, Evans says, has not only increased the company’s bargaining power within the marketplace, but guarantees a strong market.

These achievements, though, are not enough for the JADF’s Evans, who believes that the island can earn more from this non-traditional crop, although he admits that Sea Island Cotton production is minuscule compared to the other varieties.

“At the moment, we are reaping value-added for the cotton produced,” he says. “If we are able to spin and weave the cotton, we could be earning substantially more revenue. Ideally, we would have to have about 5,000 acres under production to warrant a mill. We are, however, looking at establishing a fully-integrated cotton industry, hopefully in collaboration with Barbados and Antigua.”

In the interim, though, Evans has no doubt that it will take some time for Jamaican farmers to understand the agronomy of cotton. “It certainly cannot be compared to the history of sugar,” he argues, “therefore, a cultural change in mindset will have to take place first. In addition, unlike sugarcane, it is a delicate crop, you cannot plant it and leave it.”

Facts about Sea Island Cotton

Regarded as the luxurious cashmere of cotton, its 50 per cent longer staple length (over two inches) and its finer, more uniform texture and greater overall strength than ordinary fine cotton varieties, including Pima and Egyptian, make it possible to spin a fine, lightweight yarn with great strength, silky luster and soft feel.

It’s the perfect lace weight yarn for shawls, scarves and baby things. Even knitters who never before liked working with cotton have found this yarn a rare pleasure to knit with because it has the elasticity of wool.

Historically Sea Island Cotton was a highly prized possession of the British textile industry, creating luxury shirting fabrics and lace for the aristocracy. It is grown in Jamaica, Antigua and Barbados from Gossypium Barbadense, better known as ‘the black seed’, a distinct strain from all other cotton varieties.

It requires a longer growing season than other cottons, with only moderate temperature variation and greater rainfall, which limits its production to the Caribbean. It is best harvested by hand, which further limits its supply.

Gossypium Barbadense

Common name: Sea Island cotton, West Indische katoen.

Family: malvaceae (mallow family).

A tropical perennial plant with yellow flowers and black seeds. Contains the chemical compound Gossypol; confers insect resistance to the plant.

Gossypol also has antifungal and antitumour properties. It is also used as an antifertility drug and from the small seeds an edible oil is produced.

The seed-fluff is used by the Amerindians to weave hammocks.

In Suriname’s traditional medicine, the leaves are used in the treatment against hypertension, delayed and irregular menstruation.

An extract from the flowers is used against ear inflammation.

Another therapeutic application: as an emmenagogue.