SANTA LUCIA

Geography
Saint Lucia is an island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, north west of Barbados and south of Martinique. Geographic coordinates are 13° 53' N, 60° 58' W. Area: 616 sq. km. (238 sq. mi.). Capital of St. Lucia is Castries (pop. est. 67,000)  the climate is tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds with the dry season  from January to April and the rainy season from May to August. The terrain is volcanic and mountainous with some broad, fertile valleys. The population is 170,649 (June 2007 estimate.) with an annual population growth rate of 1.297%.

            The island of Saint Lucia is divided into eleven quarters: Anse la Raye, Canaries, Castries, Choisel, Dennery, Forest, Gros Islet, Laborie, Micoud, Soufriere and Vieux Fort.

The Poultry Industry
The poultry population in 2006 was approximately 466,000 broilers and 30,000 layers. The local production of poultry meat was approximately 800 metric tonnes in 2006 while imports of processed poultry products from the USA were in excess of 10,000 metric tonnes. Table egg production was approximately 6.6 million resulting in an annual per capita consumption of 42 eggs.  The majority of the poultry industry is concentrated in the northern section of the island.
Backyard poultry production accounted for 20% of local production in 2006 while 40 semi-commercial and commercial farmers accounted for 80% of local production. The average broiler farmer has a capacity for 2000 birds in each cycle. The level of bio-security on the poultry farms ranges from level 2 to level 3.  Day old chicks and hatching eggs are imported from Florida, USA. There is one privately owned hatchery on the island supplying day-old chicks to the farming community. The imported chicks are vaccinated at the hatchery in the USA prior to export to St. Lucia.
Four small vertically integrated companies contract farmers to grow broilers on their behalf by supplying day-old chicks, feed and processing facilities. These companies also operate their own small processing plants that slaughter from 500 to 1000 birds per day.      
The Official Veterinary Services employ four veterinarians, eleven animal health assistants and two laboratory technicians. Training courses on farm bio-security are conducted by the veterinary service for all poultry farmers and there are plans to certify farmers who achieve a certain level of bio-security and management. Farmers only recently launched the St Lucia Table Eggs Producers Association and the Broiler Producers Association of St Lucia Inc.
The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is able to conduct the AGID for AI screening of flocks as well as the rapid ELISA based tests. There were no reports of outbreaks of diseases in the poultry industry in the past five years. The major diseases of interest to the poultry sector are E.coli septicemia and chronic respiratory disease.

Focal Point