Farmers Urged to Prepare for Post Storm Diseases

Farmers across the island are being urged to look out for diseases that can affect their crops following tropical storm Melissa.

Heavy rainfall creates ideal conditions for pests and pathogens to thrive, damaging crops and causing setbacks to the productivity of fields.

Senior Plant Health and Food Safety Officer with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Francine Webb, said the Authority is reminding farmers to apply fungicide treatments when the event has passed.

“The conditions for disease involve having the pathogen, suitable crop, and the favourable environment. The environment could not be more favourable right now, and so this anticipation for disease has to be there,” she told JIS News in an interview.

“Look out for leaf spots, mildews and anthracnose. You want to now shift your chemical and fungicide rotation plan to your systemic products, because you want a product that the plant will actually be able to take on the inside, to give you greater levels of protection,” she said.

Meanwhile, farmers are being urged to get pallets for the proper storage of chemicals and seeds.

With the threat of floodwaters, it is crucial that fertilisers, pesticides and seeds are kept off the ground to prevent contamination.

“The important thing is that you don’t want them to come into contact with floodwater, you want to keep them dry, so you need pallets. We’re talking about putting them on shelves and you want to ensure that your farm shed is waterproof. So that means either putting some reinforcement with the tarpaulin on the inside and making sure that your roof is secure. That is going to be important, to ensure that your fertilisers will not get damaged with the increased rainfall,” Ms. Webb said.

Farmers should also ensure that chemicals are stored in their original containers, that they are properly sealed and labeled.

“Keep your chemicals away from food, away from the feed for animals and away from the animals themselves. Those [steps] are going to be critical and these are general preparedness [activities] that we talk about. This is no longer a drill. We’re under the tropical storm warning and so these are things now that we have to put into action,” she said.