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Brief Chronology of Soybeans in the Caribbean

1767 March – West Indies: Three dozen bottles of soy sauce, made in Savannah by Samuel Bowen, are shipped on the Harriot, week before last, to the West Indies (New York Gazette 1767 April 23, p. 3).

     

1807 – West Indies: In 1807 Britain abolishes the slave trade. William Layman, Captain of the Royal Navy,  proposes that Asian cash crops be grown in the British West Indies to keep the many ships and seamen employed. Included in his 4-page list are: “Soy-bean – Dolichos Soja – Japan” and “Soy – China (Layman 1807, p. 46).

 

1903 – Porto Rico: Soybeans are first cultivated experimentally at the Porto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station. These are also the first soybeans grown in the Caribbean (Gardner 1903, p. 423).

 

1904 Jan. – Caribbean: George T. Moore, a plant physiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has developed a method for sending inoculated soybeans or inoculating soil to farmers who request it.  In response to  many requests, he sends (between Nov. 1902 and Nov. 1904) two packets to Cuba and one to  Porto Rico (Moore 1905, p. 42-43).

 

1905 – Cuba: Soybeans are first grown successfully at the agronomic station at Santiago de las Vegas  (Cruz 1906, p. 73-74).

 

1905 – Jamaica: Soybeans are first grown experimentally (Inst. International d’Agriculture 1936, p. 38-110).

 

1907 – Antigua and Barbuda: Soybeans are first cultivated experimentally at Antigua. These are also the first soybeans grown in the Lesser Antilles (Agricultural News (Barbados), 1908 Dec. 26, p. 403).

 

1909 – Dominica: Soybeans are first grown successfully, at the Botanic Station (Imperial Commissioner, p. 5).

 

1910 – Grenada: Soybeans are first grown experimentally (Interim Report 1914, p.  1-3).

 

1910 – Montserrat: Soybeans are first grown on the experimental plots at the Botanic Station (Imperial Commissioner 1912, p. 15-16).

 

1910 – St. Kitts and Nevis: Soybeans are first grown experimentally at the Botanic Station (Imperial Commissioner 1911, p. 29).

 

1911 – St. Lucia: Soybeans are first grown experimentally at the Experiment Station (Imperial Commissioner 1911, p. 21-27).

 

1912 or before - Trinidad and Tobago: Soybeans are first grown experimentally (Imperial Commissioner 1913, p. 2).

 

1916 or 1917 – Bermuda: Soybeans are first grown, as a source of green manure (McCallan 1921, p. 5).

 

1921 Dec. – U.S. Virgin Islands: Soybeans (22 varieties) received from the U.S. are first grown experimentally (Thompson 1923, p. 3-4).

 

1922-1928 – Cuba and Dominican Republic: Soybean oil is exported from the United States to these two Caribbean countries (U.S. Tariff Commission, 1929, p. 283-84).

 

1928 Sept. 9 – Barbados: Three varieties of soya beans are planted to test their suitability as green manure (McIntosh 1930, p. 54-57).

 

1928 – Guadeloupe (French): Soybeans are first grown in the breeding nursery at Pointe-a-Pitre (Chenon 1930, p. 68-71).

 

1930 – Cuba: The earliest known commercial soy product made in the Caribbean is Excelsior Aceite de Soya (Excelsior Soy Oil), made in Cuba (Ad in Revista de Agriculture, Comercio y Trabajo (Cuba) 1930 Sept. p. 60).

 

1934? – Dominican Republic:  Soybeans are first grown experimentally (Kaltenbach & Legros 1936, p. 184T-187T).

 

1936 – Bahamas: Soybeans are first cultivated experimentally.

 

1936 – St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Soybeans are first cultivated experimentally (Sampson 1936, p. 85, 201).

 

1949 – Haiti: Soybeans are first grown by the Section of Horticulture and Agronomy (Large 1949, p. 37).

 

1958 – Island of Curacao (Netherlands Dependency): Soybean oil and meal are now being imported from the USA. There is no record of soybeans ever having been grown on Curacao (Soybean Digest 1958 Nov. p. 19).

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