page_title: Economy of Barbados
section_title: Agriculture
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of Barbados / Primary industries / Agriculture
caption_attribution_description: Road from Cherry Tree Hill through sugar cane, Saint Andrew, Barbados.
context_page_description: Since the island country's independence in 1966, the economy of Barbados has been transformed from a low-income economy dependent upon sugar production into an upper-middle-income economy based on tourism and the offshore sector. Barbados went into a deep recession in the 1990s after 3 years of steady decline brought on by fundamental macroeconomic imbalances. After a painful re-adjustment process, the economy began to grow again in 1993. Growth rates have averaged between 3%–5% since then. The country's three main economic drivers are: tourism, the international business sector, and foreign direct-investment. These are supported in part by Barbados operating as a service-driven economy and an international business centre.
  By the end of 2012 the Barbados economy still exhibited signs of weakness with their main export being liquor closely followed by frozen-fish and preserved-milk to Nigeria with nearly three-quarters of the imports originating from there. Although it is often quoted that Barbados' main produce is "sugar" there are only two working sugar factories remaining in the country. At the end of 2013 Barbados economy continued to exhibited signs of weakness.
context_section_description: About 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres), or 37.2% of the total land area, are classified as arable. At one time, nearly all arable land was devoted to sugarcane, but the percentage devoted to ground crops for local consumption has been increasing. In 1999, 500,000 tons of sugarcane were produced, down from the annual average of 584,000 tons in 1989–91. In 2001, sugar exports amounted to US$22 million, or 8.4% of total exports. Major food crops ("Ground provisions") are yams, sweet potatoes, corn, eddoes, cassava, and several varieties of beans. Inadequate rainfall and lack of irrigation has prevented the development of other agricultural activity, although some vegetable farming takes place on a commercial scale. Some cotton is also grown in drier parts of the island, but until cotton can be picked by machine it is unlikely that output will rise to its former level.
caption: The cultivation of sugar cane, such as the cane growing in this field outside Saint Andrew, has always been a big part of the island's economy.
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