Beryl’s hit on agricultural sector could spark food shortage
Published:Monday | July 8, 2024 | 12:07 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The island’s agricultural sector took a significant hit with last week’s passage of Hurricane Beryl.
The Ministry of Agriculture has reported significant damage to several facilities and agricultural projects across the island, including the Grace Foods Agro -processors facility in St Elizabeth, which had to be closed due to extensive infrastructure damage.
“The area of St Elizabeth is still being assessed, but communication issues have delayed the relay of information,” a ministry statement read.
“The Essex Valley Agriculture Development Project’s solar system sustained damage, with approximately 3% of the solar panels affected, and fencing and light poles down,” it added.
While efforts to reach Lenworth Fulton, the president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), proved futile, Glendon Harris, the president of the St James branch of the JAS, told The Gleaner that based on footage of devastation he has seen in St Elizabeth and the neighbouring Manchester, which is steadily emerging as premier food producing area, there could be a shortage of certain food items.
“We are going to see a shortage of some of our basic food items. Many greenhouses have been destroyed and the overall picture does not look good for this sector,” said Harris.
He wants the Government to move quickly to assess the sector, especially in the St Elizabeth-Manchester region, which is key in the nation’s food security.
BREADBASKET
“I would like to see the Government step up right now and do all they can to help the farmers cushion this blow, and also to help them to get back on their feet as quickly as possible,” said Harris. “The fact of the matter is that St Elizabeth is the known breadbasket, and Manchester is close behind, so based on the hit they have taken, it is going to affect the ready food for the market across the island.”
He also called on farmers in St Mary and St Thomas, who he said have been doing very well in recent times, “to step up their game to help minimise the fall-out”.
In the days leading up to the hurricane, Fulton urged farmers across the island to put measures in place to minimise their losses. Jean Haughton took the advice.
“We move our animals and poultry from the areas where they would be affected by the heavy wind and possible flooding,” she said. “We also reaped some of the crops that were close to maturity, so those are either in storage or are already in the markets.”
“We earn our livelihood through farming, so we will just have to roll up our sleeves again and start planting crops and rearing animals again. We have learned the survival game over many years, so we are not new to it,” she added.
In addition to St Elizabeth and Manchester, the agricultural sector also took hits in St Catherine, where the Bodles Research Station lost one of two citrus budwood houses. The station also suffered extensive damage to its commercial crops and packing shed.
In St Mary and Portland, bananas took a battering with damage to crops exceeding 80 per cent.