Despite an ease from rainfall, farmers in Douglas Castle, St Ann are still reeling from the effects of torrential rain that battered the island recently.

The farmers bemoaned the loss of several crops to land slippages and flooding.

“Di grung dem wash weh ’cause me plant a lot of carrot enuh and string bean and all a it gone. Some a dem (farms) di trench dem broad like di road yah,” Angella Campbell said last week when the Jamaica Observer visited the community.

“Me lose a nice little farm man, some carrot and sweet pepper an those things an my goat and kid all gone,” Victor Gordon added.

Lawford Campbell echoed his neighbour’s comments, noting that he too lost lettuce, pak choi, string bean and dasheen, which he planted on his farm located on a hillside. The farm he said was affected by landslides which brought with it all the crops he tirelessly planted earlier this year.

“It did terrible man,” his friend Uriah Davis, also a farmer, chimed in.

The rural farming community was badly hit last month when a trough lingered in the vicinity of the island. It affected over 10,000 farmers, resulting in losses worth $800 million, according to the Government.

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Karl Samuda has committed $118 million to assist farmers who were impacted. Up to last month $18 million was already disbursed to begin the rebuilding effort of the badly affected sector.

But some farmers in Douglas Castle were yet to benefit from any assistance when the Sunday Observer visited last week. The farmers who acknowledged that officers from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) were in the community following the rainfall, posited that the distribution of items were not done effectively.

“Dem come through the area and we set down we name and so, a when we tings already give out to few people we hear about it and di amount a names dat set down but a one person a get it inna bulk and it nah run properly. You see if dem did give like a voucher or suh where di name is on di voucher so nobody can use your thing that would a betta,” Kenroy Gordon who lost vegetable planted on his one acre plot stated.

“I never see a help come down this side, we hear that them come up the road but none nuh come this side because a lot of us deh further down and we nuh get nothing. Me hear dat dem carry 50 bags a ‘lysa’ (fertiliser) but when mi madda go up deh, dem say ‘lysa’ done, dem nuh come nowhere down dis side so nobody down dis side nuh get nutten at all,” Angella Campbell said.

“Dem talk like dem ago help but dem nuh turn up yet. Dem come bout three weeks ago now but me nuh see dem come back,” Lawford Campbell added.

As the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season began this month, the farmers said they are praying that country is not severely impacted, to preserve the agricultural sector.

“We a hope say we nuh get no more rain fi a while cause we inna jeopardy up here,” Lawford stated as he overlooked a plot of damaged crops.