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I recently took the opportunity of visiting Jamaica after an absence of nearly 33 years to check on the Banana Breeding Station where I grew up in Bodles and that my cousin Reynold Gonsalves (Ren) managed from 1952 until his untimely death in 2001.
I was shocked to see our once beautifully kept home overgrown and infested with rats since no one had lived there for some time.
The research centre too was now completely dilapidated and even the great house where the Honourable Dr Thomas P. Lecky once lived looked more like a scene from war-torn Iraq than the famous home of the father of Jamaica’s cattle industry.
The few men still left working the banana fields seemed permanently at lunch, probably because they are now in their 70’s and 80’s, and the whole place was largely deserted. No young men want to work in the banana fields anymore. They prefer (hopefully) to finish school and get a clerical job…or…well, we know the path some others end up taking.
Once the property of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens); the quiet splendour of the Banana Breeding Station is still very much apparent. However, it seems a crime greater than those Jamaican drug dons might commit to let it go to waste in this way.
In fact, the Banana Breeding Station, Bodles, should be made a national heritage site offering paid tours to those who want to know the history of banana and cattle production in Jamaica and throughout Central and South America.
Who would know for example that this little plot of land in the heart of Saint Catherine, Jamaica, was once home to the first examples of genetically bred cattle anywhere in the world?
Or that Ren Gonsalves was partly responsible for cultivating new breeds of bananas resistant to the pathogens most responsible for their near demise in the major producing areas of the world?
Lest we forget, national treasures are hard to come by in Jamaica these days, since those people with the most vision usually end up leaving the country. It is such a terrible shame. Reynold Gonsalves must be turning in his grave.
In memory of Reynold Augustine Gonsalves, born Havana, Cuba, November 4, 1928; died Kingston, Jamaica, February 15, 2001. Photography by Paul Boakye © 2007.
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5 comments ↓
Wonderful photos! I really enjoyed this post.
I’ve enjoyed your piece on the banana plantation. I have encountered sites like that in Barbados as well. It’s a shame…
I’m writing you because reading your piece reminded me of the fact that I have a (rather unregularly updated) blog as well. It’s nothing professional, it’s just an update of things I am doing. If ever you have a dull moment, feel free to check it out.
Hey Jef – thanks for the comments. Unlike the places you mention in Barbados, Bodles was not a banana plantation but a research facility fuelled by my cousin Ren’s background as a Biologist (Howard University), and his life-long interest in botany.
Instead of the intense farming methods and profits usually associated with the plantation, Bodles was much more concerned with genetic studies and improvements to Mother Nature as the only sustainable solution to banana farming across Latin America and the Caribbean. Hence Ren was awarded the rank of Commander for his contribution to Agriculture, and has several breed of bananas named in his honour.
This is why I feel especially saddened by Bodles’ decline; particularly because of the important role it played in the lives of so many people beyond the Caribbean.
Thanks for the link to your Blog – I checked it out!
I wanted to take a moment to let you know that I found your post to be so very well written. I have only been to Jamaica’s tourist resorts and was discouraged by the guards at the gate not to venture out, so I was unable to see any of the real history and culture of the Island. This is very unfortunate. Your story however has given me a small glimpse in to important history that is slipping away. Thank you for the post.
Paul, you may be too young to remember but my father, George Graham, was a close friend of Dr. Lecky and we used to visit back and forth. He told me Dr. Lecky developed Jamaica Hope cattle. My father was an agricultural instructor for many years and eventually became supervisor for St. Elizabeth.
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