West Indian Sea Island Cotton is the most expensive cotton in the world. But the cotton, which is grown only in the Caribbean, and mainly in Barbados and Jamaica, meets only a small percentage of the world demand, despite its selling price of US$10 per pound, says the Jamaica Observer.

As a result, the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) and the Jamaica Agricultural Development Foundation (JADF) say they will provide financial and technical support to local farmers interested in growing the commodity.

According to the Observer, Jamaica is the largest cultivator of West Indian Sea Island Cotton with over 600 acres presently, followed by Barbados with 214 acres. The chief export markets are Japan, the United States and Switzerland.

The two organisations want to boost production to at least 1,000 acres. The paper notes that there are about 17 farmers growing West Indian Sea Island Cotton, mainly in the parishes of Clarendon, St. Catherine, Portland and St. Mary. Jamaica’s cotton exports are expected to bring in $100 million Jamaican or about $1.5 million US, dollars, this year.

Under the plan, the JADF would provide a no collateral, low-interest loan to farmers willing to plant at least five acres of cotton. The loan would be given under an arrangement under which the farmer would commit to paying a set amount upon the sale of the crop over several years.

Farmers would also receive assistance from the JADF in preparing their budgets and would be given the necessary inputs required to grow the crop.

However, says the newspaper, growing West Indian Sea Island Cotton is a very labour-intensive venture, as cotton has to be reaped manually. It takes up to three persons per acre to harvest the crop and weed the fields during peak period, and it would therefore require as many as 130 people for a 50-acre field.

Allan Rickards, a board member of the JAS, told the Observer that in Barbados many cotton fields are left unreaped because of problems with finding adequate labour.