SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP):
DAMAGE FROM torrential rains last week will cost Puerto Rico's agriculture industry at least US$16 million, an official said yesterday.
Vegetables, coffee and bananas were the crops hardest hit by days of heavy showers that flooded some parts of the U.S. Caribbean territory, said Francisco Oramas, the island's deputy agriculture secretary.
Damage to crops was estimated at US$8 million, while an equal amount was expected to be lost on the retail of the products, Oramas said.
Puerto Rico's Farmers' Association last week placed the losses slightly higher, at US$20 million. No reason was given for the differing figures.
Oramas said vegetable and banana growers could recover their crops in the next few months, but noted it would likely take longer for coffee producers because of the more complex cultivation process.
The Agriculture Department was exploring the possibility of providing emergency funds to growers to speed crop recovery.
