RADA, SRC to probe cause of reduced crop quality

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green says a team, comprising representatives from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Scientific Research Council, has collected samples of melons in sections of St. Elizabeth to determine the cause of the reduced quality of the crop.  

Some farmers say they have noticed that the shelf-life of their watermelons has been reduced since last year and believe that this could be due to faulty melon seeds.

Mr. Green says the team is also investigating whether farming practices could be part of the problem.

One farmer, Junior Ebanks, says he has changed his farming practices and still has the same issues with the watermelons.

”The higgler will come to the farm and within two days they will be spoilt. I have personally lost thousands of dollars - I was hoping that it would have been better this year. But it seems as if it is way more than that.”