Farmers Urged to Clear Farms in Preparation for

Farmers in St. Thomas are being advised to clear their fields of weeds, fallen branches and other debris in preparation for the receipt of relief supplies, which will be provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands next week.
Following the extensive damage to the agricultural sector as a result of Hurricane Dean, the Ministry has allocated $90 million for the purchase of fertilizer to provide relief to affected farmers.
“Prop up whatever fruit trees that have fallen as long as they were not broken or uprooted, clear your drains, clear your waterways, prepare your barriers, and generally do your rehabilitation. Don’t wait for someone to come to do the assessment of your farms before you start to clean up,” St. Thomas RADA Parish Manager, Caswell Glover has advised.
Mr. Glover told JIS News that 10 field officers, including the Deputy Parish Manager are out in the field collecting data from farmers and conducting needs assessment in the worst affected areas. Additionally, he said, farmers should visit the RADA parish office to reports their losses.
“We are still doing some registration so for those farmers, who we have not captured, once they come in to make their reports, we will seize the opportunity to capture them and do the verification at a later day”, Mr. Glover said.
He informed that as soon as the collection of data is completed, training days will be arranged for farmers, noting that the frequency of the training would be increased, since there is “a lot of rehabilitation work to be done and farmers need to be instructed accordingly.”