Caribbean AgTech Investment Opportunities

Caribbean AgTech Investment Summit, 2021

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR

The agriculture sector in Barbados consists mainly of traditional crop and livestock farming, with small numbers of farmers engaged in aquaculture and apiculture, orchard and food crop production.

Similarly, there is a high level of production in root crops:

There are over 5,000 active farmers

Cassava

Sweet Potatoes

Yams

These collectively accounted for approximately 20% of recorded crop production in 2020. Other crops which recorded high levels of production include chives, bananas, parsley and onion. While Barbados imports varying quantities of vegetable fruit crops, the island is relatively self-sufficient in the production of root crops with imports representing less than 1% of consumption typically. The single highest non-food crop with the highest level of cultivation in Barbados is sugar cane,

1,902 engaged in crop farming

1,261 solely in livestock farming

1,782 a mix of both.

The major vegetable crops cultivated include

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Lettuce

Okras

A total of 90,177.61 tonnes of cane was harvested in 2020.

Collectively, production in these commodities accounted for approximately 20% of recorded crop production in 2020.

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