By Cedric Johnson, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
LOSSES TO the agricultural sector in Westmoreland as a result of the recent flood rains has been put at $21 million by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), which recently completed an evaluation of the damage to crops and livestock.
"Losses are principally related to food and vegetable crops, livestock and fish pots," said Conrad Tharkur, the Westmoreland Parish Manager for RADA, in an interview with The Gleaner on Monday.
"The crops most affected are a wide range of vegetables and root food such as yams. Poultry and goats also took a severe pounding as many animals perished."
Mr. Tharkur said the devastation was widespread, with over 1,000 farmers throughout the parish suffering serious losses as a result of damage to their crops. In the farming districts surrounding Darliston and the agricultural belt adjacent to Savanna-la-Mar were among the areas hardest hit, some farmers reportedly suffered losses running into thousands of dollars.
Investigations by The Gleaner have also revealed that there was much devastation in Frome, Grange Hill, Cornwall Mountain, Little London and Bluefields, which also took a serious battering from the torrential rains.
However, despite the current "gloom and doom", Mr. Tharkur said the situation is not likely to last, as a rehabilitation plan activated by Government immediately after the rains ceased was now fully functional.
"Already some 450 farmers have been given assistance," said Tharkur. "Some have received fertiliser, chicken feeds and seeds, while others have been assisted in the area of land preparation."
As a result in the decline in food supplies caused by the flood rains, consumers in Westmoreland are reportedly being forced to dig deeper in their pockets to purchase food and vegetables, which in some cases are five times more expensive than before the rains.
Escallion, which used to be sold for between $40 and $60 per pound, is now going for $300 per pound while tomatoes are now at a whopping $120 per pound.
