SEVERAL St Ann farmers in bauxite mined-out areas are now benefitting from greenhouse technology which is being touted as the perfect solution to ensuring greater yields even during severe drought.

The farmers who have engaged in traditional farming on mined-out lands leased to them by Noranda Bauxite are now owners of their own greenhouses, valued at $1.7 million. This has been made possible through a project led by Noranda, the Alpart Community Council, Jamaica Bauxite Institute and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund with the objective being to construct 160 houses across bauxite mining areas in St Ann, Manchester and St Elizabeth.

At Tobolski in St Ann, where a section of the project is now being rolled out, some 20 farmers are planting sweet peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and strawberry. There are also plans to look at growing scotch bonnet peppers based on the current demand.

Public and Community Relations Superintendent at Noranda Kent Skyers said the 3,000 square-foot greenhouses can yield up to five times more than the traditional way of farming. Another advantage, he noted, is the ability for the greenhouse to be constructed on any type of terrain.

“This site used to be an old marl quarry and so this shows that it can even be placed on rocks,” Skyers said of the site at Tobolski.

Many of the farmers, which include several women, would never be able to afford a greenhouse given the high cost of constructing the units. The high cost of a sustainable irrigation system has also acted as a deterrent to many. However, under this project, Noranda has also footed the $4-million bill to construct water reservoirs in the mine pits, equipped with solar-operated pumps to channel water to the greenhouses. The reservoirs were built to hold some five million gallons of harvested water.

“… So even in bad drought we will still have enough water in the catchment which we can pump to the greenhouse so the crops will never be affected,” he told the Jamaica Observer North East.

He explained that a major challenge the company had to undertake in establishing the greenhouse for the farmers was the irrigation system.

Under the project, the farmers received material to build one greenhouse each and they also assisted in the construction of the reservoirs.

Members of the Lime Tree Gardens farmers association, who are participating in the project at Tobolski, were able to benefit from the expertise of the farmers at Burnt Ground where the greenhouse initiative was first successfully rolled out.

According to Skyers, the farmers are expected to add more greenhouses over time.

“In another year or two they should be able to add another one on their own,” he said.

The farmers who have been planting crops in the greenhouse since January are expecting to begin reaping in three months.

Skyers said the farmers will also be able to increase the variety of crops as the market demand increases. For now, he said the plan is to target markets such as the larger hotels and this will also determine the types of crops grown.

Already the 50 farmers involved in the Burnt Ground project are said to currently supply produce to such large customers.

“Most of them are going into ripe pepper production so they have moved away from vendors to supplying hotels and supermarkets who want ripe peppers,” he explained.

“We are aware of the issue of maintaining standards where hotels are concerned but we can say that the only thing that could affect our yield is if we have a hurricane,” he said, adding that based on this guarantee the farmers can enter into contractual agreement with anyone.

With greenhouse farming, Skyers said the farmers will be better able to maximise the output as they are also able to control their environment. “It is not open to all kinds of elements so there is better disease and pest control so you end up using less chemical,” he explained.

The farmers say they are expecting an even greater yield than what they were able to produce in the past.

“It is plenty different because when you are outdoor the crop will be wiped out during drought so we see a lot of benefits to greenhouse,” said farmer Leroy Sawyers.

The farmers said they were usually forced to spray their crops every seven days in keeping with traditional farming but this is expected to significantly lessen.

“What I believe is that what we put in is what we will take out and work as a team,” said another farmer, Donald Dickinson.

The farmers say a lot of fellow residents are desirous of being a part of the project.

“Every parish in Jamaica should have something like this,” said Roselda Walker, one of several women farmers in the project.

The farmers expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of the project as they pointed out that they would never have been able to afford the cost of the greenhouse on their own.

A major deterrent for a lot of farmers going into greenhouse farming is the high cost of the material for constructing the units. Over the years Skyers said the company has engaged in a tree planting programme and some of these pine trees are being used for lumber to construct the units and this has helped in reducing the cost by some $400,000.

Meanwhile, the long-term vision for the project is that younger farmers will be encouraged to be a part of this type of farming. “The plan is for each farmer assigned to a house to get a young person involved ,” Skyers explained.

He said the involvement of young people in greenhouse farming has already started with the company giving greenhouses to Aabuthnott Gallimore, York, and Brown’s Town high schools and the Christopher School for the Deaf.

“We are creating that pool of young persons and we want to bring this to them to say it is something different,” he said, adding that it is the intention for the current project to be the hub of greenhouse activities.