Aranjuez A Case Study in Rural Development*
| Published date | 01 April 1970 |
| Author | Andrew Macmillan |
| Date | 01 April 1970 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1970.tb00708.x |
Aranjuez
A Case Study in Rural Development*
By
DR.
ANDREW
MACMILLAN
Dr.
Macmillan is a member of
the
Agricultural Planning
Unit,
Ministry
of
Agriculture.
Introduction
THEMain Road in Aranjuez is,to all appearances, similar to any other street
in the suburbs
of
Port-of-Spain.
The
houses, one storey up on concrete
pillars, show that the population of the area is predominantly East Indian,
but there is nothing to indicate that approximately one third of the 4,500
people who live in Aranjuez are dependent upon farming as their principal
source of family income. Less than a quarter of a mile to the East of the
Main Road, however, lie some 450 acres of cultivable land, divided into
300 tenant-operated holdings. It is with this relatively small area and with
the market-gardeners who operate it, that this paper is concerned.
In the first section of the paper we shall look at the origins of vegetable
growing in Aranjuez, and then trace the spectacular rate of growth in produc-
tion achieved by the area in the last thirty years. In the second section we
shall try to identify the ingredients of this growth, and discuss the relative
importance of the various stimuli which provoked it. As it would be mis-
leading to infer that there have been no setbacks in the recent history
of
Aranjuez we shall also consider some of the problems which have interrupted
the process of development, and which seem likely to recur in the future.
Finally, by way of conclusion, we shall discuss the impact of external agencies
as sources
of
change on the pattern of market-gardening in the district.
The
Origins
and
Growth
of
Vegetable
Production
in
Aranjuez
Until the 1930's, the history
of
Aranjuez was similar to that of most other
small sugar estates in Trinidad. At times of good prices, considerable amounts
of
capital were invested in milling machinery, but the field operations remain-
ed labour-intensive, a perpetual source of dismay to the planter.
The
most
serious labour crisis was occasioned by the abolition of slavery, which re-
sulted in an absolute shortage of labour available for plantation work in the
Island, a situation which was only resolved by the importation of contracted
(or "indentured") labourers from other countries. Immigrant workers were
brought from a number of countries, including Madeira and China, but it
was soon found by planters (not only in the West Indies but also in Fiji and
Mauritius) that the most satisfactory labourers came from India. Immigrant
ships plied regularly between Calcutta and Port-of-Spain from 1847 until
•
This
article was originally prepared for the Overseas Development Institute,
London,
as
part
of
the
Institute's rural studies programme.
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