WESTMORELAND is one of the island’s leading food producing parishes and joins St Catherine, Manchester and St Elizabeth to make up the four areas that produce well over 50,000 tonnes of food crops for both the domestic and export markets.

According to Rural Agricultural Development Authority parish manager Conrad Tharkur, the parish recorded a marginal growth of 1.60 per cent in food crop production last year. This, he said, accounted for 19.60 per cent of the island’s total production for the period.

The RADA boss attributed the increase in Westmoreland’s agricultural output to a drought rehabilitation programme that was introduced by his organisation during the period under review. He also attributed some of the growth to the introduction of a gravity-fed irrigation system that assisted the farmers during the dry season.

In addition, he said, farmers also benefited from funding from the Social Economic Support Programme, which was distributed by RADA.

And though he had high praise for the food production sector, he was less enthusiastic about the livestock area of farming in the parish.

“With regards to livestock, cattle farmers in the parish continue to experience the effects of what is generally accepted as a sluggish market,” he said. “However, the direction now is towards goat production and two members of parliament have assisted in this area by donating a couple Nubian Bucks to the Westmoreland Goat Farmers’ Association.”

Meanwhile, the RADA boss is encouraging the farmers in the parish to make use of the training opportunities available to them and apply the newly learnt methods in their farming.