Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
quire a name other than ''sugar cane'' until the eighteenth century, when
the introduction of higher-yielding varieties from the Pacific known as
Bourbon or Otaheiti canes (S. ocinarum)promptedgrowerstorefer
to the older variety as ''Creole cane.''
54
By the early nineteenth century,
the fast-maturing and high-yielding Otaheite canes became the principal
varietygrownintheAmericas.Otaheitecanesalsoprovidedplanterswith
a woody bagasse that served as a fuel for the mills. As forests in Carib-
bean cane-growing regions receded and firewood became more di
cult
to procure, cane bagasse acquired a new importance.
55
The spread of plant diseases in the second half of the nineteenth cen-
tury prompted Caribbean cane growers to shift to varieties introduced
from Java. As was the case with bananas, the movement of cane varieties
inadvertently spread pathogens because disease-tolerant plants seldom
displayed symptoms when infected by pathogens, making it di
cult to
establish effective quarantines. Initial efforts to breed cane varieties were
stymiedbythefailureofpopularcanevarietiestoproduceseedunderfield
conditions (a characteristic shared with Gros Michel bananas). However,
cane growers began establishing breeding stations in the late nineteenth
century following the realization that some varieties could be induced to
set seed. One scholar credits the subsequent development of cane hybrids
asafactorthatenabledCaribbeancanegrowerstocompetewithEuropean
beet sugar growers in the early twentieth century.
56
However, new vari-
eties sometimes encountered opposition from planters and field workers.
In the 1910s, mosaic disease invaded cane fields in Cuba where a majority
of planters favored Crystalina (a Javanese cane) and other varieties that
were highly susceptible to the pathogen. Colonos and owners of ingenios
balked at the idea of planting disease-resistant hybrids because the su-
crose content of the newcanevarieties differed from that of Crystalina. In
ordertoovercomethisproblem,colonosandmillownersdevisednewcon-
tracts based on Crystalina's sucrose yields. Subsequently, trained chem-
ists were enlisted to determine the sucrose content of colono cane ship-
ments. Opposition to new cane varieties also surfaced among Jamaican
and Haitian cane cutters who disliked harvesting the new hybrids because
the canes' spiny surfaces shredded their hands. More research is needed
to understand the roles played by mill owners, colonos, and field workers
in influencing decisions about cane varieties in Cuba and elsewhere, but
the example illustrates the ways in which agroecological change affected
rural people's livelihoods.
57
Latin American coffee production has been based on varieties of just
twospecies:CoffeaarabicaandCoffeacanephora(commonlyreferredtoas
