George Henry, Gleaner Writer
PHOTO BY GEORGE HENRY -
Donovan Fagan picking gungo peas from his farm in St. Elizabeth, recently.
MALVERN, St. Elizabeth: A SEVERE shortage of gungo peas in sections of St. Elizabeth has resulted in consumers facing a 200 per cent price increase when compared with the same period last year. This, the farmers said, is a result of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan.
Checks by Farmers Weekly with some consumers, farmers and at least two markets in the parish have revealed that gungo peas was being sold for $300 per quart in the market, up from $100 and between $50 and $70 per pound in the field.
This has triggered complaints from a number of consumers in the 'Breadbasket Parish' who charged that the prices were too high. Several persons with whom Farmers Weekly spoke said, while they understood the severity of the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan last September, to increase the price by 200 per cent was too harsh.
One consumer, who opted for anonymity, suggested that vendors were being gross as the peas could be sold for $200 per quart instead of the $300 being charged. She said although she is a lover of the peas, she would not be purchasing it at that high price.
DESTROYED BY HURRICANE
But Osmond Palmer, a farmer in Munro, St. Elizabeth, said he lost over $25,000 in half-acre of gungo peas destroyed by the hurricane.
"Bwoy, my crop was looking so good before the hurricane came and I know it would have done well," said Mr. Palmer. "If the hurricane did not destroy it (gungo peas), I would not have hand to sell it."
Another gungo peas farmer, Donovan Fagan, of Roseberry, near Malvern, told Farmers Weekly that he lost over
because of damage caused by the
hurricane.
Beryl Plummer of Kinowl, near Malvern, related a similar experience. According to her, she lost just less than half-acre of the crop in the hurricane. Mrs. Plummer added that she was not surprised.
Despite the loss suffered, the farmers said they will have to spend thousands more to replant the crop. Mr. Palmer noted that the farmers will also be affected by the high prices as, according to him, he would have to buy the seeds at the high prices for planting in April.
