Abstract
North-East Trinidad is a low income, underutilized, agro-ecological significant and agricultural community with great potential for producing non-traditional crops for domestic usage and export. Diversification is critical to agro-ecological transitions to ensure food security and nutrition while conserving, protecting and enhancing natural resources. The growing demand for agro-ecological and food security solutions suggest that efforts be made to utilize sustainable agriculture, and agro-ecological methods by utilizing available rural landscapes and communities in an effort to fulfill these demands. Surveys of sustainable agriculture, organic farmers and agro-ecological interests were conducted in the impoverished region of North-East Trinidad. Survey results reported over 180 farmers with >1 - 10 acres of available farmland supported a high agricultural production capacity. The highest average per capita for vegetables was tomato (2.3 acres), for tubers was yam (1.03 acres), and for tree crops was green fig (900 plants). Livestock production was limited with duck production being highest (165). There is an increasing earning potential for small farmers and leaseholders, from utilization of non-traditional export crops and expanding agro-ecological land usage, increasing sustainable agriculture production in the area.
Highlights
Introduction and Literature ReviewSustainability in the agricultural sector is of greatest importance in the 21st century as it is an area in which one of the most critical fights for world’s resources
The small farmers or fishermen are the ones that raise the issue of support for sustainable agriculture traditionally, especially since this has implicitly been a way of life for generations
Agro-ecology naturally developed as a form of resistance to the Green Revolution and a way of defending small farmer knowledge and traditions
Summary
Sustainability in the agricultural sector is of greatest importance in the 21st century as it is an area in which one of the most critical fights for world’s resources. There is a deficit of knowledge on non-traditional export crops regionally and almost none on the potential agro-ecological impact on increasing availability of agricultural products in Trinidad and Tobago. Sustainable agriculture systems can be effectively tied to agro-ecological models for farmers, especially those producing non-traditional crops, and expanded to export markets. As a first step, we have performed an agro-ecological assessment of production of non-traditional crops and livestock in a highly impoverished region, North-East Trinidad. This region historically was not part of the traditional agricultural areas under cultivation [2]. This study is the first of its kind to survey non-traditional crops in an area of agro-ecological significance with the potential to be a source of income for the region and if expanded, nation as a whole
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