Windward Islands Research Articles

Autumnal Bird Migration over the Windward Caribbean Islands

Autumnal Bird Migration over the Windward Caribbean Islands

Monitoring of Sigatoka disease(Mycosphaerella musicola)in the Windward Islands for tolerance to fungicides∗

Abstract Sigatoka disease, caused by Mycosphaerella musicola Leach ex Mulder (Cercospora musae Zimm.), is presently the predominant form of banana leafspot in the Windward Islands and several other important banana growing countries. A simple method of monitoring for tolerance to fungicides using conidia of Cercospora musae is described. This method avoids the possible confusion that can occur with ascospores of other Mycosphaerella spp. Results so far have not revealed any pathogen tolerance to 5 ppm benomyl in the Windward Islands but the common leaf cohabitant Mycosphaerella musae (Speg.) Syd. is often tolerant. A rotation programme of fungicide applications is now recommended in the Windward Islands.

Post-Emancipation Protest in the Caribbean: The “Belmanna Riots” in Tobago, 1876

Abbreviations CO Colonial Office Series, Public Record Office, Kew SM Special Magistrate When slavery in the British West Indies was formally ended in 1833, the great majority of the freed men and women remained within the orbit of the plantation system. Even if many succeeded in establishing themselves as small-holders who cultivated food crops on their own account, most were driven by their cash needs to work part-time on the estates. It would be naive to think that the managerial attitudes and practices developed during slavery were abandoned with the end of the legal institution; the ill-disguised contempt and hostility of many plantation staff, their lack of sensitivity towards the labourers' new status, were constant sources of friction in the post-slavery decades. In addition, legal freedom brought a host of new irritants - wage rates, wage stoppages and irregular payment, the size of tasks, the mode of payment by day or by task - to complicate relations between labour and management.1 The result of these problems, and other, more specific grievances, was a series of labour protests, disturbances and riots in the post-slavery decades throughout the Caribbean. If revolts were an inescapable consequence of formal slavery, demonstrations and riots by labourers seeking to defend their rights and to protect their hard- won gains were equally characteristic of the difficult post-Emancipation period. Tobago, which was permanently British after 1814, was linked administratively to Barbados and the Windward Islands in a loose union after 1833. Several labour protests and riots took place in this group of islands in the forty or fifty years after Emancipation. In Dominica a serious rising occurred in 1 844 in protest against the taking of a census, an action which many Dominican freedmen interpreted as the first step in their re -enslavement. In 1856, peasants who were technically squatters on Crown Lands resisted attempts to evict them at Batalie on Dominica's Leeward coast, and attacked the policemen who were trying to execute the order. Towards the end of the century, in 1 893, peasants of La Plain village violently protested against the eviction of one of their number for defaulting on his land tax in a time of serious rural depression. The Navy had to be summoned and four persons lost their lives St Vincent experienced riots in 1 855 sparked off by a severe judicial punishment inflicted on a woman for stealing canes worth one or two shillings, and a serious labour disturbance took place in 1862.4 In St. Lucia, the public flogging of a 14-year-old boy from a respectable coloured family for perjury triggered off riots in Castries in 1844; as in the Dominica Guerre Negre of the same year rumours spread in St. Lucia that slavery would be re-imposed. More serious was the St. Lucia riot of March 1 849 in protest against the land tax imposed on small-holders whose cash incomes were extremely small: eight persons lost their lives in this riot. 5 Even in Barbados, the headquarters of the Windward Islands government, where the island's complacent ruling class traditionally represented the labourers as docile and contented, the pressures of extreme poverty led to occasional explosions. In 1872 a Bridgetown crowd looted the cargo of a wrecked ship as it was brought ashore; the looters only dispersed when the police fired, killed one, and arrested 77 persons.6 In April 1876, the Confederation Riots broke out, and although political issues were probably most salient, there is little doubt that more traditional grievances such as low and irregular wages, oppression by individual plantation managers - as well as stark poverty - played their part Tobago The spectrum of grievances and different forms of oppression that led the Windward Islands Creoles to protest violently in these decades were also present in Tobago, the smallest island in the group, where the total population was only 17,054 by 1871. …

A review of nematology research at the windward islands banana growers’ association

Abstract Nematology research at the Windward Islands Banana Growers’ Association (WINBAN) can be conveniently divided into past and present work. In the past, research consisted of inventories of nematode populations with information collected from surveys and diagnostic work involving inoculations and life cycle studies leading to nematode control possibilities and programmes. Presently emphasis is being placed on the improvement of control methods and studies of nematodes in relation to other microorganisms.

Revolutionary Theory and Political Reality in the Eastern Caribbean

In this analysis of contemporary economic and sociopolitical reality in the smaller states of the Commonwealth Caribbean— the so-called Lesser Developed Countries (LDCs) comprising Antigua, St. Kitts-Nevis and Montserrat (the Leeward Islands) and Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent (the Windward Islands)—developments within the larger CARICOM countries—namely Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Barbados—will be discussed. All too often social science analysis of the Commonwealth Caribbean assumes a great deal of homogeneity among all CARICOM countries, therefore concluding that what might be a correct analysis of Jamaica, for example, is equally applicable to any of the smaller territories. This article shows that this assumption is often erroneous and can produce several pitfalls in perspective, diagnosis, and prognosis.During the 1970s there have been several concrete developments in the Commonwealth Caribbean presenting the intellectual community with unprecedented tasks of interpretation. Broadly, the decade began with the massive “black power” upheavals in Trinidad and Tobago and culminated with the revolutionary overthrow of the neocolonial Gairy regime next door in Grenada.

Slave Resistance and White Reaction in the British Windward Islands 1763–1833

(1982). Slave Resistance and White Reaction in the British Windward Islands 1763–1833. Caribbean Quarterly: Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 33-46.

The Sense of Time, the Social Construction of Reality, and the Foundations of Nationhood in Dominica and the Faroe Islands

Dominica is the northernmost of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. Its capital is Roseau. The official language is English, but for most of the island's predominantly Negro population of about 80,000 the language of everyday life is a French-based Creole called patois. Dominica was granted full independence from Britain on 3 November 1978. From November 1977 to December 1978, I lived there in a fishing village called Casse. Casse has about 800 inhabitants.

Management of banana leafspot (Sigatoka) disease in the Windward Islands∗

Abstract The rugged terrain and large number of smallholdings are important factors in the control of yellow Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella musicola Mulder) in the Windward Islands. A network of reference points has been established in each island where the disease level is monitored by the simple method of Stover and Dickson (1970) and a new method that assesses early infections on the young leaves. This information is used to decide spray applications. The use of Piche evaporimeter data to forecast spray applications has been investigated and is considered useful. Several fungicides have been tested and tridemorph, biloxazol and imazalil found to give satisfactory control with a view to introducing a rotation programme to avoid the continued sole use of benzimidazole formulations and possible occurrence of tolerance.

Fungi associated with crown-rot disease of boxed bananas from the Windward islands during a two-year survey

Bananas, cv. Robusta from St Lucia, St Vincent, Dominica and Grenada were shipped monthly and submitted for mycological examination over a period of 2 years, in order to determine the fungi associated with crown-rot disease. Out of a total of 5503 crown area samples examined, Colletotrichum musae occurred in 24.4%, Fusarium semitectum 17.8%, F. oxysporum 3.4%, F. moniliforme 3.2%, Verticillium theobromae 3.0 %, {itF. graminearum 2.8%, Phoma sorghina 2.1%, Gliocladium roseum 2-0%, Acremonium strictum 1.7%, Botryodiplodia theobromae 1.7%, F. solani 1.7%, F. equiseti 1.5 %, F. spp. 1.2%, Phomopsis musae, Nigrospora sphaerica, Pestalotiopsis sp., Ceratocystis paradoxa, Cladosporium sp. and Penicillium spp. less than 1.0%. No fungal growth occurred in 34.4% of the isolations attempted. Crown-rot incidence fluctuated during the sampling period but this could not be correlated with changes in the fungal populations except for crowns from St Lucia where the percentage of C. musae isolated was significantly related at the 95 % confidence limit.

Relations between fracture patterns, seismicity and plate motions in the Lesser Antilles

Measurements of orientations of joints that have been made on the Leeward and Windward Islands (Lesser Antilles) from St. Martin to St. Vincent are reported. The preferred orientations of the joints have been determined by a statistical analysis. Assuming the joints to be shearing phenomena, the principal directions of the stress field that caused them, can be calculated. The latter are in very good agreement with the principal stress directions obtained by a statistical analysis of fault plane solutions of earthquakes in the area; the inferred maximum compression direction being NW-SE ( ca. N 130°E). This corresponds to a model which assumes that the American plate is subducted in that direction beneath the Caribbean plate.

South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico

Summaries of oil and gas drillings, well completions, production, exploratory wells, exploration activity and wildcat drilling were given for South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico. The countries, islands, etc. included Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward and Windward Islands, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Surinam, Trinidad and Venezuela. 16 figures, 120 tables. (DP)

Plant Parasitic Nematodes from the Windward Islands

Abstract Nearly 500 samples taken from banana and over 30 other crops in the Windward Islands revealed the presence of 31 species of plant parasitic nematodes. The most common were: Radopholus similis, Helicotylenchus multicinctus, Rotylenchulus reniformis, Meloidogyne incognita, Tylenchulus semipenetrans and Xiphinema vulgare. A review of the plant parasitic nematodes recorded from the Windward Islands is given and the more important species are discussed. Details of banana nematode control are given.

Some Economic Aspects in the Decline of Friendly Societies in the Windward Islands *

Some Economic Aspects in the Decline of Friendly Societies in the Windward Islands *

West Indian Sea Magic

TO an island people, the sea surrounding them is obviously one of the most significant factors in their lives. It both sustains life and destroys it-as if by random whim. So it is that the inhabitants of the Windward Islands of the Caribbean look to the sea with a great deal of respect and maintain that both natural and supernatural laws must be upheld to live upon her face successfully. To observe the natural laws enables a man to exist, to maintain the supernatural dictates is to succeed. The supernatural is simply an extension of the natural and the two are irrevocably entwined. Both must be taken into account. A young seafarer discovers early that 'The ocean has not no friend' and if he is to be a fisherman he learns his trade from his elders. These are the natural laws that are drummed into him. For example, where the different fish are to be found, 'Every fish got his chamber,' or the signs to watch fora piece of wood known as a 'treasure' because of the fish under it, or when the wind suddenly falls after a raging gale to give a bit of calm 'you goin' to tell yourself don't worry again, because those fish in the bottom, they cannot go up. If the wind and sea is too rough they strike deep in the chamber,' or the time to catch certain fish, 'Any time breadfruit in tree, blackfish a fool.' He learns how to set his nets and hooks, how to read the weather and how to handle his boat. But all this will not make him successful

Acremonium zonatum . [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria

Abstract A description is provided for Acremonium zonatum . Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: Known from leaves of Amaranthus gangeticus, Annona squamosa, Boehmeria nivea, Brillantaisia nitens , Calopogonium mucunoides, Coffea arabica, C. liberica-excelsa, C. robusta, Colocasia esculenta, Coridia dentata, Crotalaria anagyroides, Cucumis sativus, Eichhornia crassipes, Eranthemum nervosum, Erythrina senegalensis, Ficus carcia (var. celeste ), Hypoestes verticillaris, Kosteletzkya grantii, Lindackeria bahobensis, Litchi chinensis, Momordica foetida, Morus acidosa, Musa sapientum, Pachira insignia (syn. Bombax sessile ), Phaseolus atropurpureus, Plumeria alba, Solanum verbascifolium, Steriospermum bantharum and Vigna sinensis . DISEASE: Causal agent of 'fig zonate spot' and 'zonal leaf spot' of coffee but forming similar zonate leaf spots on a wide range of phanerogams (see above). GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Widespread in tropical countries and known from Africa (Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Zaire), Asia (Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak), New Guinea, Taiwan, Western Samoa), West Indies (Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Windward Islands), Central America (Costa Rica), North America (USA, southern Louisiana), and South America (Peru, Venezuela). TRANSMISSION: Presumably mainly by rain splash but insects crawling over infected leaves could play some part. Old diseased foliage on the ground is probably the primary source of infection (28, 180). Inoculations by spraying spore suspensions and placing cultures on lower leaf surfaces successful (Tims & Olive, 1948).

Investigations on parasites and predators of some major forest insect pests in India.

Natural enemies of Adelges spp., Pineus laevis Maskell, Lymantria obfuscate WIk., Hypsipyla robusta moore, Petrova Cristata' (Walshingham), Dioryctria spp. and Sire X spp. have been investigated in India with a view to possible biological control of the same or related forest insect pests in various parts of the world. About 50 predatory species attack Adelges and some of these have been introduced into Canada and the U.S.A., but without success. Predators of P. laevis occurring in India are worth trying against Pineus pini (L.) in East Africa and Hawaii. L. obfuscate has a large complex of hymenopterous and dipterous parasites, some of which are common to L. dispar and occur also in Europe and other areas. A number of Lymantria parasites from India are now being bred in the U.S.A. for release against L. dispar. H. robusta is attacked by over 50 species of parasites and several of these have shipped to Trinidad and from there to the Windward Islands, British Honduras, Brazil and Mexico for trial against Hypsipyla grandella Zeller. Trichogrammatoidea robusta Nagaraja has become established in Trinidad. The pine shoot borers P. cristata', Dioryctria sylvestrella complex, D. assamensis Mutuura, D. castanea Bradley and D. raoi Mutuura have a large complex of hymenopterous parasites. Many of these have only been identified generically and warrant more detailed studies to evaluate them. Rhyssa persuasoria himalayensis Wlk is a common parasite of siricids. In the light of the work already carried out in India various biocontrol possibilities against forest insect pests are discussed.

Fungi associated with Crown Rot of Boxed Bananas in the Windward Islands

Journal of PhytopathologyVolume 85, Issue 2 p. 149-158 Fungi associated with Crown Rot of Boxed Bananas in the Windward Islands P. J. Griffee, Corresponding Author P. J. Griffee Windward Islands Banana Growers Association (WINBAN) Fruit Quality Research Scheme, Castries, St. LuciaAuthors' addresses: Mr. P. J. Griffee, c/o Universal Plant Breeding Services, P.O. Box 50, Caistor, Lincoln LN7 6BJ (England); Mr. O. J. Burden, Fruit, Vegetables and Root Crops Section, Tropical Products Institute, London, WC1X 8LU (England).Search for more papers by this authorO. J. Burden, O. J. Burden Windward Islands Banana Growers Association (WINBAN) Fruit Quality Research Scheme, Castries, St. LuciaSearch for more papers by this author P. J. Griffee, Corresponding Author P. J. Griffee Windward Islands Banana Growers Association (WINBAN) Fruit Quality Research Scheme, Castries, St. LuciaAuthors' addresses: Mr. P. J. Griffee, c/o Universal Plant Breeding Services, P.O. Box 50, Caistor, Lincoln LN7 6BJ (England); Mr. O. J. Burden, Fruit, Vegetables and Root Crops Section, Tropical Products Institute, London, WC1X 8LU (England).Search for more papers by this authorO. J. Burden, O. J. Burden Windward Islands Banana Growers Association (WINBAN) Fruit Quality Research Scheme, Castries, St. LuciaSearch for more papers by this author First published: February 1976 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0434.1976.tb03215.xCitations: 16AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume85, Issue2February 1976Pages 149-158 RelatedInformation

The Provident Fund Approach to Social Security in the Eastern Caribbean

ABSTRACTThe paper describes the introduction of National Provident Fund Schemes in the British Leeward and Windward Islands under the guidance of the British Government during the 1960s. Adopted on the recommendations of technical experts from the United Kingdom, the schemes are very similar (except for the inoperative one in one of the territories where unfavourable political developments occurred); they are funded by payroll taxes levied on both employers and employees, cover nonpensionable employees between ages 16 and 60 and make provisions for retirement and other benefits which have mostly been deferred. The operations of the schemes are discussed, with critical attention being given to the use made of the accumulated funds. Many weaknesses of the schemes are discussed, some of which make them inferior, in the writer's view, to alternate programmes suggested several years earlier. The paper concludes with the hope that in spite of the schemes' limitations, improvements will be made so as to improve the prospects for social security in the region.

The Bishop of Jamaica and Slave Instruction

In July 1824 two new bishoprics were organised in the West Indies, the bishopric of Jamaica including Honduras and the bishopric of Barbados and the Leeward and Windward islands, to promote the activity of the Anglican Church among the slave population. A series of resolutions passed in the House of Commons in May 1823 committed the government to reforms intended to prepare the slaves for eventual freedom, and primary importance was given to their need for religious instruction. Knowledge of Christianity was regarded as an ‘indispensable necessity to…the foundation of every beneficial change in their character and future condition’. Most of the reform programme, which included the abolition of flogging for women, the admission of slave evidence in court and the improvement of manumission facilities, involved revision of existing slave codes and implementation, therefore, depended, outside the crown colonies, on the cooperation of the island assemblies. The imperial government, however, was free to promote religious instruction and chose to appoint the bishops. Under their supervision the Anglican Church in the West Indies was to become a missionary force. As the Secretary of State explained to the governor of Jamaica, ‘his Majesty's Government have been anxious to prove the deep interest which they feel in the encouragement of the religious and moral instruction of the Negroes, by at once taking upon themselves the whole charge of placing the Clergy of the West Indies under Episcopal control’. Funds were voted to pay the bishop of Jamaica £5,600 p.a. and salaries were also provided for six auxiliary curates and an archdeacon to help to supervise the clergy.

Fungi associated with crown-rot disease of bananas from St. Lucia in the Windward Islands

Bananas, var. ‘Robusta’, from St Lucia were examined over a period of 3 months to determine the fungi associated with crown-rot disease. Colletotrichum musae (Berk. & Gurt.) Arx, Fusarium semitectum Berk. & Rav., Verticillium theobromae (Turc.) Mason & Hughes, Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht and Fusarium spp. were the main fungi associated with the crown-rot areas of untreated fruit, while C. musae, F. semitectum, Fusarium dimerum Penzig., Gliomastix cerealis (Karst) Dickinson, Curvularia senegalensis (Speg.) Subram., Drechslera sacchari (Butler) Subram. & Jain, Curvularia verruculosa Tandon & Bilgrami and Drechslera (taxonomie species XII) were associated with thiabendazole (TBZ) treated fruit. The in vitro sensitivity to TBZ and benomyl of all the isolates from TBZ-treated fruit and some of the isolates from untreated fruit was determined. The fungi shown to be insensitive to both TBZ and benomyl belonged mainly to the genera Curvularia and Drechslern and were isolated from TBZ-treated fruit apart from an isolate of Curvularia pallescens Boedijn.