Dear Editor,

A few days ago I was in the area of Pike, a community in the Craighead Division, North-East Manchester. I saw and spoke with a few farmers who complained that the price of yam is very low at $35 per pound.

Later that day I found myself in the Christiana market, which is a little more than six miles or ten kilometres from Pike where I found vendors selling the same product for $100 per pound.

A higgler came to my house a few days ago and offered me cho-cho at $50 per dozen. Later that day I went to the Mandeville market to visit a friend. As I entered the market I saw a lady holding up three cho-chos in a bag shouting “$50 fi 3 chocho”.

I know running a successful business means buying or producing at a particular price and selling at a reasonable mark-up to make a profit. My concern is for the farmers who do manual labour, pay other labourers, purchase the $5,000 a bag fertiliser, among other expenses, yet receive little or nothing for their hard work while others either become wealthy or earn a decent living from their effort.

Something has to be done about this, we must examine ways that our farmers can profit from the work they do. Jamaica will never grow if the persons who continues to do maximum work are the ones who continue to receive minimum benefit.

We must ensure that our small farmers are protected in a better way so other persons can be encouraged to enter this sector of production because they view it as viable and profitable industry.

Gary Rowe

Coleyville PO

Manchester

magnett0072004@yahoo.com