THE Ministry of Agriculture is reporting that the heavy rains in mid-May have resulted in close to $800 million in damage to the sector.

Portfolio minister Karl Samuda said more than 10,000 farmers were affected, with losses amounting to an estimated $794 million.Approximately 8,862 farmers suffered crop losses of $718,006,202, while more than 1,400 farmers suffered livestock losses of an estimated $76,202,000, a release from the ministry said yesterday.There is also a previous report of $522,000,000 preliminary estimate of the damage to the sector.“Teams from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) are still on the ground conducting damage assessments as more areas become accessible. Logistics are also in place for agricultural inputs to be distributed to affected farmers on an equitable basis,” the statement said.The shock to the agricultural sector, in addition to estimated billions that it will cost to effect repairs to the road network and other critical infrastructure, could make a dent in the Government’s fiscal plans. The Planning Institute of Jamaica this week projected growth for the fiscal year of between two and three per cent, based on increases in the goods producing and services industries. The chief planning agency also informed that agriculture recorded a 2.5 per cent decline compared to the corresponding quarter of 2016/17.By all indications, the Government will have to source several billion to clean up the damage from the four rain events between March and May, which flooded homes, washed out or severely damaged bridges, destroyed crops, downed trees, caused breakaways, landslides and other related events across the island.On Tuesday, permanent secretary in the ministry, Denzil Thorpe, informed a committee of Parliament that based on preliminary estimates, municipal corporations will need a total of $1.3 billion to fix damage that has been assessed so far.At the start of May, just before several days of severe showers which badly affected all but two parishes, the local government ministry had paid out $185 million to the worst-affected parishes to effect emergency repairs to damage from the April rains.Meanwhile, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) are today expected to announce, at the launch of disaster preparedness month, mitigation and preparedness plans for the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.