Saint Lucian farmers have successfully battled Black Sigatoka, and trounced crop damage due to Hurricane Tomas and the 2013 Christmas Eve trough to achieve a record number of banana exports this year.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Production and Fisheres has indicated that about 5,000 tonnes of bananas have been exported to the UK so far in 2014, largely due to continuing government support to battle disease, provision of fertilizers and active cooperation between agriculture officers and the island’s remaining banana farmers.  

Grenada, in comparison, is virtually completely out of production for export, while Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines haven’t been able to produce enough to export continuously.

Bananas were once regarded as ‘Green Gold’ in the four Windward Islands, however, preferential treatment disappeared on the European market, thanks to competition from Latin America and a ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO).