FARMERS in the hills of Mount Pleasant in western Portland are still banking on farming, despite the various challenges they have had, and are calling on Government and agriculture technocrats for assistance.

“Farming used to be my life, but we are affected by praedial larceny. “Right now, I could be doing all the farming possible, but because of praedial larceny, I’m hesitant, that’s a fact.

“If the Government can do something about that, I could be producing like wildfire. I have the land, good land, but because of praedial larceny, I am afraid,” former principal at Mt Pleasant All-Age School, James Patterson, told the Jamaica Observer North East.

Patterson said for months, unscrupulous individuals have raided his coconut and banana farms, “stealing them by the bunch”. He said, too, that this is as a result of the Government failing to play its part.

“When you plant bananas, unless you have Government doing their part, you are spending thousands of dollars and you don’t get it back. For me, farming is the key, but you need some support from Government in curbing some of the praedial larceny. Farmers are willing to farm, but they want some type of protection from Government as you can’t treat thieves as so. You can’t have young men sitting around not doing anything. My problem is not with farming; my problem is with praedial larceny,” he lamented.

He also pointed out that the closure of the Boundbrook Wharf has contributed to the woes of the farmers in the parish. The wharf, where banana export was prominent for the better part of 42 years, with farmers from Portland, St Mary, St Thomas, and St Ann benefiting from items sold to a number of European countries, was closed in 2003.

“Farmers will farm, but they want to know where they are going to be consumed; we need marketing like AMC (Agricultural Marketing Corporation). This farmers’ thing in Port Antonio that RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Authority) started is like gold, but it’s a one-time thing; we want things that are consistent. Marketing is the key and if we can get 70 per cent of the food that we produce, things would be much better,” he theorised.

Leonard Brown, who has been farming for over 50 years, believes that farmers would be able to do more if they get proper land tenure, which would assist in them accessing loans.

“The farming is going on bad right now as we have been having drought for four years and then bad weather with the heavy and persistent rain; it is from one extreme to the other. The praedial larceny is bad. Last year I planted over 40 plantain suckers and somebody thief out 22 out of it,” Brown, whose main crop is plantain, said with a look of sadness on his face.

Brown noted, too, that wild animals are a challenge.

“The deer are a big setback for us. They come and eat up the crops and there is no one to complain to and no compensation as it is a big loss,” he said.

These deer, Brown explained, escaped from Somerset Falls in the parish during Hurricane Gilbert, and have since been living in the hills feeding on farmers’ crops. As a result, Brown is recommending that Government set up a cooperative farming programme to assist farmers.

Small farmer Neville Bartley, who plants a wide variety of crops and does livestock as well, argued that the lack of proper infrastructure has hindered his progress.

Bartley, who plants yam, onions, tomatoes, plantain, and corn, said: “I try to do every little thing, but one of the main problem that mashing up me, and not me alone, is road to go a wi groun’. The Government stop work the farm road dem and three-quarters of the crops leave back a bush, so that is we main problem,” he insisted, adding “The roads need to be maintained.”

Bartley also mentioned the impact of deer on the crops of farmers.

“The deer damage my crops sometimes, but not recently; dem gone now as some dogs was running dem – wild dogs,” said Bartley, who operates two farms in the area.

At the same time, he said another major problem is the absence of a storage facility for farmers.

“One main thing we want is when we plant the crops dem and the market not available, there is a storehouse so the Government can come in and buy it and store and sell.

“We need proper distribution and marketing, so what we have here in Portland and what they have in Westmoreland and what is not available some places, it can get to the areas where it’s not available. Good marketing is needed,” said Bartley.