Annalee Bernard, Freelance WriterBLACK RIVER:
AT A meeting of members affiliated to the St. Elizabeth/Manchester Vegetable Growers Association, held at the Flagaman Community Centre on January 22, over 70 farmers, housewives and higglers in attendance expressed anger as they aired a number of concerns.
Presided over by president Seymour Simpson, the St. Elizabeth/Manchester Growers Association, disclosed that, "due to inadequate marketing and Government's neglect of the small farmers, who more times than not have to seek their own market, between the higglers and the hotels over $100 million was owing to them for their produce."
The farmers drawn from several districts in South Eastern and South Western St. Elizabeth stated that if Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke had contributed one-tenth of the money spent on the sugar industry to vegetable farmers, they would be far advanced in their co-operative.
Leading the wide-ranging expressions of concern were Mr. Simpson, Joslyn Barnett and Walter Ebanks, who all stated that the southern St. Elizabeth farmers alone produced some 40 per cent of all fruits, vegetables and condiments the nation consumes, thus their concerns must be given attention.
The group comprising both young and not so young, women and men, demanded that government sit down with them to work out such items like irrigation water, zoning of crops, decrease of imported farm items, decrease of gluts, proper marketing structure, and reduction of fertilisers and agricultural chemicals - items which the farmers have to compete with.
