Tomato farmers grappling with glut urged to contact RADA

 

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green is urging farmers grappling with an oversupply of tomatoes to contact the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the marketing officers in their area for assistance with the crop.

 

This follows a cry for help from tomato farmers in South St. Elizabeth, who are worried that hundreds of pounds of their crop could spoil.

 

Mr. Green, who was a guest on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines this week, said marketing officers have been activated to redistribute the tomatoes and find buyers for the crop.

 

He added that the Ministry has engaged agro-processors to utilise the tomatoes to prevent post-harvest loss.

 

Mr. Green believes issues with an oversupply of agricultural produce could become a thing of the past once the Kirkvine cold storage facility in Manchester is completed. 

 

"What we really need to do is to extend the shelf life, because what happens is that all the tomatoes come in now and we have a glut on the market for maybe two weeks, and then the tomatoes either are redistributed or they spoil, and then we go back into crisis in terms of a shortage. So the answer is storage. So we are putting in the investments now to get that storage."

 

He said the problem should be alleviated by later this year into next year as the Agro-Invest Corporation will, by then, be able to move excess tomatoes into storage for redistribution over time. 

 

Construction of the $124 million Kirkvine facility began in February and is expected to be completed within six months.

 

But some farmers in South St. Elizabeth with thousands of pounds of tomatoes ready for sale, say they are not confident in the assistance that will be provided by RADA.

 

The farmers say their experience with the agency has not been beneficial, as there are limits on the amount of produce taken off their hands.

 

Simon Witter, a farmer in Cheapside, believes the current issue could have been prevented had the government acted earlier on calls for cold storage. 

 

Another farmer and vendor in Malvern, Dean Smith, has recommended designated markets for produce and price controls to protect the investments of farmers.