Trelawny farmers cry for help after significant loss due to storms
TRELAWNY, Jamaica — Farmers in the Lime Tree district of south Trelawny are pleading for assistance to get back on their feet, after losing a significant amount of their produce during the recent back-to-back storms.
“I planted some yams recently, and I was just about to get some yam sticks to put in the field but now, I don’t even know what I am going to do with the sticks because the entire middle of my farm sunk during the heavy rainfall,” said farmer Devin Pitter.
Pitter shared that the results of the thunderstorms have made him afraid to attend to his crops as he fears breaking a leg while going onto the land.
“If you saw the crops, you would think it was an earthquake, and if you step on [that piece of land] you might break your [leg], so I am scared to step over there to take up anything because I don’t know the extent of the [damage] or how soft the soil is,” he told OBSERVER ONLINE.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, [based on] the extent of the damage, I might have to just cut off that side because when we get more rainfall, it might [reoccur],” Pitter added.
Bradley Buckle, another Lime Tree farmer, told OBSERVER ONLINE that he lost the majority of the crops he was growing for sale during Tropical Storm Grace.
“I had 800 roots of hot pepper and I lost them, one and few are still left back, but [most] of them broke down and mash up. I also had 400 hills of yam and that blow down too. A whole lot of plantains and bananas mash up,” said Buckle.
Even the donkey he rides daily to his farms, OBSERVER ONLINE learned, was not spared by the thunderstorms.
“I even lost a donkey, the rain killed it,” Buckle shared.
Though the farmer feels as if he has nowhere to turn to, he is asking for assistance to get his farm back on track, as he is the sole breadwinner of his family.
“We don’t have anybody to talk to, but we really need some assistance to get our farming back on track. I would appreciate some fertiliser, yam heads, pepper sucker or any other little things to plant. I wouldn’t mind if somebody could come to my grung to look and see, to show that I am not lying,” he said.
Similarly, in the neighbouring district of Lowe River, farmer Basil Johnson is pleading for assistance after losing his crops due to heavy rainfall.
“I lost a lot of my yams; I didn’t count it, but the rain washed away most of my crops. I would really want some help with fertiliser and suckers because I have to start over again,” he told OBSERVER ONLINE.
Rochelle Clayton