MAY PEN, Clarendon — Clarendon councillors are appealing to the Ministry of Agriculture for assistance for farmers who they say are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Beryl which ravaged sections of the island on July 3.

The councillors, at the monthly meeting of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation last Thursday, said farmers in the northern section of the parish seem to have been neglected and are asking for more to be done to avert a possible food crisis in the parish.

Councillor Stephen Williams (People’s National Party, Ritchies Division) said he has been in the fields assessing farmers and that a number of them lost sweet yam and negro yam to disease and are not able to do any replanting.

“I have witnessed it for myself; the head of the negro yam is dead and the sweet yams have just a little stick. I don’t know if those will develop to be able to be replanted, so I am saying to everyone inside here we could have a serious food crisis. I am asking the minister of agriculture for 1,500 bags of fertiliser for the farmers. Most farmers plant yellow yam, and it is the money made from the sweet yam and the negro yam that is usually used to buy fertiliser for the yellow yam.

“Mark my word, we going to have a serious food crisis,” claimed Williams, who said the gap would have to be filled for negro and sweet yam between October and January.

Council Chairman Joel Williams enquired if the councillor had reached out to the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) extension officer for that area, and he responded in the affirmative. He said that he last spoke to the officer last Tuesday and she told him that the allocation was simply not enough.

Councillor Collin Henry (Jamaica Labour Party, Thompson Town Division) echoed the sentiments of his colleague, stating that between 80 and 90 per cent of people in the division depend on farming.

“I don’t think small farmers are being paid enough attention. I know RADA has been out doing its assessments in some areas and I understand that, for whatever reason, they might not be able to reach farmers in the deep-rural areas. But when I visit some communities, like Victoria, Smithville, and Mount Pleasant, these farmers are crying out, as much as the Ministry of Agriculture has been assisting. Maybe they have been assisting the big farmers, but I don’t think they are paying much attention to the small farmers. That is why the prices have been hiked right across the parish. Beryl would have given them a warm time in those areas, especially those that have banana and plantains,” he said.

Henry said farmers have begun increasing their prices because of the high demand for scarce produce.

“So I am raising the point because the small farmers keep the local markets alive. The extension officers are going around, but they have little resources to give anybody at all. Yesterday [last Wednesday] one lady told me she went to the extension officer and asked for some help and all the officer could give was a little packet of tomato seeds. I am asking kindly for the Ministry of Agriculture to pay some attention to the small farmers, because they are feeling it,” he said.

The councillor asked that a group be formed with the councillors and the RADA leadership in the parish, because the farmers depend on the sales of their produce to send their children to school and feed their families.

The council chairman committed to scheduling a meeting with those councillors who have concerns, and the agriculture ministry, to have their concerns addressed.