Rayon Dyer, Gleaner WriterBLACK RIVER: A SURPLUS of tomatoes following the passage of Hurricane Ivan has forced a sharp decrease in prices in southern St. Elizabeth.
This is in contrast to the price of tomatoes in the period immediately following the hurricane when the vegetable was being sold for $200 per pound. Now, the produce fetches a top price of $5 per pound.
Farmers lament that the glut affecting the sale of tomatoes is a result of too many farmers planting too much of the same crop.
MARKETPLACE
Speaking with Farmers Weekly this week, Marcel Ebanks, a cultivator in Flagaman, St. Elizabeth, said, "The current glut with tomatoes in the marketplace is unavoidable, because after Hurricane Ivan, most of the farmers went out and invested heavily in this crop."
Mr. Ebanks, however, said gluts like these happened periodically. He said whenever there is a surplus of any crop, all the farmers involved lose most or all of their investment.
RESTART PRODUCTION
Another farmer, Claude Taylor, said he was disappointed that after they had made every effort to restart production, there was no market to sell their produce. Mr. Taylor also noted that there was a need to fast-track installation of the long-awaited chilling room for Flagaman to preserve vegetables when there is a glut.
When contacted, parish co-ordinator of the St. Elizabeth branch of the Jamaica Agriculture Society (JAS), Marcia Murray, said, "We will be taking urgent steps to assist the farmers by taking some of the tomatoes from them to our Kingston branch office for distribution." Ms. Murray added that the JAS had started distributing seeds and fertilisers to the farmers in south St. Elizabeth.
