November 2009


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Genetics professor says
agriculture can be the region’s
biggest, best bio-business

By Vaneisa Baksh

When people think of agriculture, they generally associate it with planting food crops. But it is a much wider field than that. We need to think of it in modern terms and current realities, with a sharper focus on the business and science elements of the process, says Pathmanathan Umaharan, Professor of Genetics at The UWI.

It is a cultural and mental shift that needs more than a shove to move it from its firmly rooted base.

Recently, as farmers complained that agricultural land was being diverted to housing, even the Minister of Agriculture conceded that agricultural development would not happen without land, but he too appeared to be in a land-locked frame of mind.

In the small islands of the Caribbean, the availability of land will always present a challenge for farmers to reap economies of scale, and with populations growing, the allocation of land will continue to provoke debates.

Bio-business is the strategically viable and profitable way to develop agriculture, says Prof Umaharan. Food security is extremely important, he readily agrees.

“The first requirement is to meet the food needs of the people in the region and the second is how we can use our genetic resources to create economic opportunities.”

Neutraceuticals from cocoa, for example, create an avenue to earn revenue. (UWI’s Dept of Chemistry is actually doing work based on the findings that dark chocolates contain healthy anti-oxidant and nutritive properties: neutraceuticals. The project seeks to chemically characterise the flavour and neutraceutical content of local cocoa beans and to correlate their respective sensory qualities.)

“We have developed new anthurium varieties which are resistant to bacterial blight. These are universal diseases in the tropics, so it has widespread application. Mozambique, South Africa, South China, and Hawaii have requested varieties. We can either licence them and earn royalties, or sell them to them.”

Prof Umaharan believes that agriculture ought to be at the centre of regional development strategy. He knows more intimately than most what the regional approach to agriculture has not been. As Deputy Dean of Enterprise Development and Outreach of the Faculty of Science and Agriculture, he prepared a report on a workshop held at the Tropical Agricultural Congress in December 2008. The report is a broad, comprehensive document distilling the analyses and recommendations of a broad group of participants— public and private sector—throughout the region.

Unsurprisingly, he notes that agriculture has dropped out of the realm of being a profitable venture.

“Right now there is more of an exodus,” he says. “It is in a depressed state because large, private investors consider it risky, menial and backward. We have to change that mindset. Agriculture can be developed and marketed so that it has a large potential.”

It is perfectly suited to be the region’s strategic centre because it is renewable and revolves around our tropical existence.

“We are in the hemisphere which is the most diversity rich in the world: the neotropics. We have pineapples, anthuriums, sweet potatoes, hot peppers and peanuts— all indigenous to the region—how many are developed here?”

The business possibilities are endless with careful planning. Holland is the main anthurium supplier of the world but has none indigenously. We buy papayas from Hawaii, and they are indigenous to this region.

“Small islands do not need to develop many things, but just need to concentrate on one or two. New Zealand took the Chinese gooseberry and branded it into Kiwis. They also worked with dairy and developed their dairy brand. Our challenge is to utilise these things to add value,” he says.

There are two types of peppers, for example in the region. The Capsicum annuum includes chilli peppers, jalapeños, sweet peppers, etc and is indigenous to Central America and the southern part of North America. The Capsicum chinense is more up the Caribbean alley. Among other fiery inmates, it includes the Scotch Bonnet, Habanero, Congo, the one commonly called Seven Pot (conjuring the image that it is hot enough to flavour seven potfuls but which is really Seven Pod) and of course, the Scorpion, which is rated the hottest, and looks dangerously like a scorpion with its aggressively pouting tail.

These flavourful peppers are not marketed well, so that their export market remains confined to the diaspora community, and the world has not yet been seduced by their zesty heat.

“All these are potential markets for development. Capsicum annuum generally yields about 120 tonnes per acre. Our hot peppers produce much less, a mere 20 tonnes per acre. We have to increase our yield potential because it has always been confined to the ethnic market and so remains uncompetitive,” he says.

“We don’t have the space to grow and sell on large scales, so we should create knowledge products, licence them and receive royalties.”

The Department of Life Sciences has been developing what he calls knowledge products based on manipulating genes in different ways. They have done considerable work already on cocoa, anthuriums and hot peppers.

The Cocoa Research Unit of The UWI is custodian of the International Cocoa Genebank, Trinidad, one of only two such cacao repositories in the public domain. Its work on cocoa has brought international acclaim, and is directly related to Trinidad and Tobago being one of only eight countries classified as an exclusive producer of fine or flavour cocoa.

The cocoa industry had been almost eradicated by disease until research led to the development of the Trinitario variety, which has become associated with the best cocoa and chocolate products globally.

Likewise, Trinidad had been the largest exporter of anthuriums to North America in the nineties, but diseases devastated the industry, and the UWI scientists focused their attention on restoring life to the beautiful flowers.

They succeeded in identifying resistance to the bacterial blight and leaf spot that had practically killed the industry, and now they are working on nematode resistance. Next on the agenda is developing new colours— yellows, blues, purples. Anything is possible, says Prof Umahran, and even his calm, measured tone cannot hide his excitement at the prospects.

“An anthurium normally sells for US 30¢, but if you have a premium, novel quality, you can get US$3 for each one. With this new variety, the risk is minimal,” he says.

They have also developed a bodi resistant to three diseases: Cowpea severe mosaic virus, Cercospora leaf spot and Southern Blight. The bodi is now being commercially grown on five acres at the Chaguaramas Development Authority’s mega farm.

These are simple samples of the kind of ventures that can be made profitable if a common strategy is developed regionally. Businesses will enter if the environment is made attractive. He says it is not about growing a wide range of crops in small quantities. That kind of kitchen garden approach is unlikely to attract investment leading to sustainable livelihoods.

The key is to identify one or two crops or items and to develop systems that support it right through the process, from seed to market.

“For these things to work you need to prioritize, you need strong research and development. Set a five-year plan and develop each phase to intense concentration. We have limited human resources, so we need to pool all and work together on one project at a time.”

He cites the modus operandi of the US, where they administer competitive funds in priority areas, which brings about institutional partnerships.

“We need enabling policies, and that is where governments come in. The governments need to provide an enabling environment, policies, and support mechanisms. The Government has a role to play by putting the the right incentives to organise and nurture the industry.

“No industry can survive without very strong R&D support. Our farmers in the past have been left to strive on their own. Farmers get low yields and are investing heavily to control pests, etc. They face problems of water-logging, and yields are poor because of poor quality seeds.

“They import seeds from the US, but these seeds are resistant to US pests and diseases, not to local ones. You’re buying stuff from them to plant with lower yields and more need for spraying. Vehicles of disadvantage, I call them.”