The heads of Grenada's nutmeg and cocoa associations have held talks with the prime minister Keith Mitchell, to brief him on what they say is a crisis in their industries. Both remain casualties of Ivan, more than a year and a half after the worst hurricane in Grenada's history. Reginald Buckmire, the chairman of the Cocoa Association, says he hopes it won't kill off the industry. "We were estimating 200 tonnes of cocoa to be harvested this year", he told BBC Caribbean radio, "we have not been able to get more than 20% of that amount". Dying crop The trees that shade the cocoa plants have fallen in on them, and parasitic vines are strangling the plants. Rats have begun to feast on the cocoa beans. There's also the problem of in effect, paying workers to do nothing. "Because we've not been exporting or handling cocoa, a lot of our workers had to be sent on vacation", said Dr Buckmire. Cocoa is third only to tourism and nutmegs, earning Grenada 2 to 4 million EC dollars, a tenth of its annual income. However its major importance to Grenada is an an employer. Dr Buckmire puts the number of workers and their dependants at about a third of Grenada's population. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com