Hugh MartinA FARMER must be the most optimistic of all businessmen. When he invests in a crop, he can never be sure that the seeds he has sown will germinate. Sometimes he gets pretty close to a 100 per cent emergence, but that is not often, so he must be prepared to supply the missing areas if he expects to get optimum yields. And then at this the most susceptible stage, the insect pests and diseases stand ready to devastate.
The farmer expects this so his pest control programme is in place, and sometimes, if his
timing is right, he takes his crop through this difficult phase.
But he has no control over the weather. When the drought comes he can survive for a while if he has access to a well or a river or if he is near to one of the few irrigation schemes. But what does he do about the floods when they come as they so often do? And the winds? And the hurricanes?.
Let us say he manages to get through all these difficulties and ends up with a glorious harvest. He still has what is perhaps his biggest problem the praedial thief. This is the cruellest loss of all. After the blood, sweat, tears and borrowed funds have been put in to see it taken away at the dead of night or at gunpoint is not an easy pill to swallow. In other businesses the proprietor might be consoled by the knowledge that his insurance policy will come to his rescue. Except for three crops, banana, coconut and coffee, the farmer operates without the protection of insurance. He simply cannot afford it. The risks involved in farming are so great that insurance companies are forced to set premiums so high that very few crops can access the coverage and remain viable.
INSURANCE SCHEMES
In the case of bananas and coconuts insurance schemes against windstorm damage were established by an Act of Parl-iament over half a century ago. This allowed for affordable premiums collected by the commodity boards as a cess from the proceeds of crop sales. The Coffee Industry Crop Insurance Scheme was set up under a trust deed in 1992 to protect coffee farmers from total loss as a result of certain natural disasters. This has worked well for the farmers but it seems that its structure does not conform to the Insurance Act of 2001 and, therefore, cannot continue in its present form. However, the trust deed that brought it into existence made
no provision for amendments
so it has to be dissolved. This announcement by State Minister for Agriculture Errol Ennis at a press conference earlier this week has naturally caused a great deal of concern for coffee growers, especially coming as it does during the hurricane season. The Coffee Industry Board, through the minister, has assured the farmers that other arrangements will be made to provide coverage after the dissolution but it sounds as if the coverage will be limited to group damage from natural disasters and not to individual damage. In other words a farmer can only get compensation if a number of other farmers suffered damage from the same disaster. The Coffee Board has made provisions for objections to the dissolution of the scheme but these must be in by July 30.
Whatever the outcome, coffee growers will still enjoy some amount of coverage, a privilege the great majority of farmers do not share and cannot afford.
DENBIGH
The annual Denbigh Agricul-tural Show takes place over the Emancipation weekend and
continues to be one of the big attractions of our Independence celebrations. JAS president, Senator Norman Grant, has said that it will take on greater significance than in previous years, as with the participation of other Caribbean countries and the United Kingdom it is now an international event.
I am not too sure that that means these countries will be mounting displays or that representatives will be in attendance. Whatever the situation, Denbigh has never failed to attract thousands upon thousands each year as there is a deep and genuine interest in agricultural production by the vast majority of the people. Denbigh offers the best of what the nation's farmers produce and there is always something new to learn at the various displays. Visitors from other countries add to the pool of potential customers for our crops and livestock that match and, in some cases, surpass the best that can be found anywhere. We welcome them as we celebrate our two important holidays.
Hugh Martin is a
communication specialist
and broadcaster who
can be reached at
humar@cwjamaica.com.
