RADA gives upbeat agricultural forecast for Hanover

WESTERN BUREAU:

Despite the debilitating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and instances of bad weather, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is predicting that 2021 will be a good year for the agricultural sector in Hanover.

“Twenty-twenty was considered to be a below-average year from the experiences with the COVID-19, plus the climatic conditions which affected the farmers negatively. We believe that 2021 will be a much brighter and productive year,” said Aston King, the deputy parish manager for RADA in Hanover.

While not providing the supporting details, King said that both acreages planted and reaped within the parish during 2020 were less than in 2019, mainly because of the health concerns surrounding the arrival of the coronavirus on the island.

“The production figures for 2020 saw a slight reduction in our hectares planted, hectares reaped and tons reaped as compared to 2019. A great part of this would have been due to the fact that the established markets, particularly the hotel sector, which some of the farmers supplied, whether directly or indirectly, being out of service, so a number of farmers reduced their production as that market was not totally available for them,” said King.

King named yams, bananas and plantains as the major crops produced throughout the year in the parish, adding that crops such as hot pepper, dasheen, sweet and yellow yams were also produced as priority crops under the guidance of RADA personnel.

“The farmers within the parish were significantly impacted because of the negative conditions throughout the 2020 year, and it (the conditions) even affected some of the exports. So the farmers had to really temper their production,” said King, who added that the exorbitant prices for food crops that came into effect towards the latter part of the year were due to the shortage of a number of farm produce.

PRIORITY CROPS

The RADA deputy parish manager also pointed out that the Ministry of Agriculture focused on some priority crops with increased allocation towards the production of those crops, which was the high point for the farmers in Hanover throughout the year. He also noted that some private-sector suppliers donated seeds and fertilisers to the ministry following the flood rains in the latter part of the year, which were passed on to the farmers.

King also noted that although his agency has adopted a positive outlook within the farming community in the parish for 2021, he is expecting that the ongoing health concerns as it relates to COVID-19 will have some effect on the overall plans and strategies for the ensuing year.

“What we have realised is that, with a number of persons having to work from home, the demand for seedlings from our nursery has greatly improved, and a lot of persons are putting in some backyard gardening and doing some cash crops at home, which we also encourage,” said the RADA manager.

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