Vegetables prices starting to fall after post-hurricane spike

 

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green says prices for some vegetables have started to decline after soaring in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which devastated farms more than two months ago.

 

Speaking with Radio Jamaica News over the weekend, Mr. Green said an oversupply of cucumbers, lettuce, and other short-cycle crops has flooded the market, driving prices downward.

 

He attributed the improvement to some farmers restarting their planting a week after the hurricane, as well as the ministry supplying seeds, through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), and the National Irrigation Commissioner being able to pump water to farmers using generators. 

 

So we are seeing a significant recovery of a number of items. And if you go to the market, you can see there is a downturn in prices on a number of things that would have spiked directly after Melissa. So, again, really really great work by our farmers," he reiterated.

 

The Agriculture Minister said the government will continue to support farmers by providing cold storage facilities to help manage the glut of cucumbers and other produce.

 

He noted that this measure is aimed at reducing waste and ensuring adequate supplies are available during periods of shortage. 

 

So one of the things that you will see this year is us not just investing in, but us opening new storage facilities. We have input one in the Flagaman area in St. Elizabeth and we are going to get that up and running with a management structure by the end of January. We are going to open our Essex Valley storage facility which will allow about 22 containers of food come February, and then we are going to move to open our Kirkvine facility," he outlined.

 

Hurricane Melissa inflicted significant damage on Jamaica's agriculture sector, with preliminary assessments indicating losses of approximately $29.5 billion.

 

The disaster affected more than 70,000 farmers and disrupted operations across 41,390 hectares of farmland.

 

Additionally, more than 1.2 million animals, including small ruminants, poultry, and cattle have been lost.