Brightens Christmas for Coconut Farmers in St. Mary And St. Thomas

Coconut farmers in St. Mary and St. Thomas have received supplies from the Coconut Industry Board (CIB) to assist in their ongoing recovery from losses sustained during Hurricane Beryl’s passage just south of Jamaica on July 3.

The provisions were handed over to farmers in two farm groups in St. Mary and their counterparts in St. Thomas on December 19 and 20, respectively.

Each farmer received two bags of fertiliser and 25 seedlings, while each farmer group was given a spray pack to be shared by the membership.

The seedlings are the Maypan variety, which was engineered by the CIB to be resistant to Lethal Yellowing disease, among other qualities.

CIB Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Shaun Cameron, told JIS News that the items are intended to brighten the festive season for the farmers, by helping them to bounce back after Beryl’s devastation.

“The reason for the delay in the Beryl response is because the Coconut Industry Board is [self-funded]. So we had to manage our cash flows and make sure that we have enough cash to provide the necessary gifts to our farmers for Christmas, so that they could have a wonderful and productive Christmas,” he said.

Mr. Cameron indicated that other farmer groups will benefit from the Board’s gesture over the forthcoming weeks.

Lead farmer for the Crescent farm group in St. Mary, Michael Swaby, was delighted to accept the supplies on behalf of his colleagues.

“This will take us a very far way. We have been suffering with high rainfall, and the storm in July has been very devastating to us. So we welcome and we well appreciate the gifts,” he told JIS News.

Representatives of the CIB also engaged both groups of beneficiaries in dialogue about their farm practices and answered their questions.