Farmers are being urged to put measures in place to prevent major loss in an already stressful economic situation in the event of major tropical storms or hurricanes.

Last week meteorologists highlighted two areas of disturbed weather for the possibility of such, and Jamaicans were warned to stay alert.

With $250 million in relief support issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to farmers who were affected by tropical storms Grace and Ida in October 2021, Ainsworth Riley, the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) agribusiness specialist in Jamaica, said farmers should take as much precaution as possible.

“Properly store away farm records, such as herd records, receipts, land titles, sales agreement, etcetera. The process for replacing land titles can be costly and lengthy, especially if you are in custody of a title that does not have your name on it. I have personal experience with going through the land administrative process. It can be expensive because you require the services of a lawyer to facilitate the process,” he advised in an interview with the Jamaica Observer last Wednesday.

“In the case of the farmer, the Government of Jamaica’s Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) with the National Land Agency (NLA) can sometimes assist, but you still need the support of a lawyer.”

Riley said sale agreements are sometimes used as security for financing the farm operation. For example, to get a loan.

“This is called factoring. Usually the financing entity is paid by the buyer of the produce. Based on the agreed payment terms, an amount is retained and the remainder is remitted to the farmer. Additionally, if the farmer is a taxpayer, he or she would need to have these records for completing tax returns.”

Riley further cautioned farmers and fisherfolk to act on other “hurricane tips” and not wait until situations escalate.

“Remove cladding from greenhouses and use to cover crops after laterally placing them on the ground. If possible, stock on seeds, seedlings, and other inputs for quick recovery. Fisherfolk should remove their fish pots and take to shore. Fishing boats should be taken further from shore and properly secured. All farmers and fisher folk should listen to the bulletins from the met office. Ensure that there is access to battery-operated radio and secure life and property as best as possible,” he advised.

The Rural Agricultural Development Agency (RADA) revealed that as a result of heavy rains from January 31 to February 1 this year alone, damage to livestock and crops in the parishes of St Mary and Portland amounted to approximately $76.8 million, leaving more than 551 farmers affected.

Back in 2021, following tropical storms Grace and Ida, Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw said the heaviest loss was experienced in the poultry sector, at an estimated value of $12 million.

Shaw said that $100 million was for support for crop and livestock farmers – $28 million was made available through the Members of Parliament, and the remaining $71 million would be disbursed under the recovery programmes being executed by RADA.

In October 2020 then Agriculture Minister Floyd Green said, based on estimates from RADA, there was an excess of a $1.5-billion economic loss across the agricultural sector impacting over 11,000 farmers as a result of Tropical Storm Zeta.

Green noted that the entire southern belt had taken the brunt of the damage, including St Elizabeth, Manchester, Clarendon, parts of St Catherine, St Thomas, and Westmoreland.

The ministry said farmers and agriculturists must be re-educated on the dangers of climate change as Jamaica had suffered approximately $30 billion in crop losses due to irregular weather patterns between 2004 and 2019.

Wordsworth Gordon, chairman of the St Mary-based Jeffrey Town Farmers’ Association, told the Sunday Observer that farmers usually get early hurricane warnings and prepare adequately, especially those with livestock.

“But the thing I dread the most is not the wind so much. It is the rain. There is a lot of water, and wind and rain together is very destructive; for example, trees fall down and things like that, but more trees will fall because the ground is saturated and they topple over quicker. You can’t really guard against those sort of things happening, other than cutting back the trees if they are close to your home,” he said.

Gordon said another concern, especially in his area, is that many people are planting cash crops.

“I’m worried about them because they are not using the necessary land husbandry procedures to protect their crops against heavy rain; for example, I notice they are ploughing the land and the roads are downhill and things like that, and they don’t have drains and holding trenches to hold the water. So what happens, when it rains it just washes everything away and top soil is gone and you lose your crops,” he explained.

Gordon added that one can get away with that type of practice under normal rainfall, but not developed weather systems.

“But it doesn’t have to be a hurricane or anything like that, especially now. You don’t know when you’re going to get a shower of rain, where you will get 12 inches of rain in the space of 20 hours. That happens, and those are the kinds of disasters I am concerned about. We think climate change is something in the air and not something real, and I can see a lot of damage being done to agriculture in our community and elsewhere,” he lamented.

Citrena Atkins, co-founder of Gerty’s Agro-Produce in New Hall district in Manchester, said she hasn’t started making any preparations for the Atlantic hurricane season.

“I’ve been so distracted by the recent drought that I’m just elated to get rain. However, I need to exercise prudence going forward and put the necessary measures in place to mitigate against any possible damage. I’ll ensure that my water tanks are secured and nearby trees are pruned. I’m involved in outfield farming, so I’m limited in what I can do to protect my scotch bonnet peppers from excessive rainfall,” Atkins told the Sunday Observer, noting, however, that she has some concerns.

“I’m concerned about the negative impact the season might have on the country’s food security. It’s very challenging when a farmer’s livelihood is interrupted. The impact is multiplied across many sectors. We’ve put in so much work in the past few months to establish our fields and struggled through the drought, so we’re expecting a return on my investment.”

Goat farmer LaFranze Gayle said in order to minimise the colossal damage he will be cleaning drains, and securing all objects that can damage crops.

“Also, when planting on a slope, I implement terrace farming to mitigate soil erosion by preventing or minimising rain washing away the soil. I am also sceptic on the types of crops that are planted as not all crops will be able to sustain such weather. As a farmer, my biggest concern is, if a hurricane or tropical depression hit the island, the damage that can be caused by it,” he said.

Anthony Cole, who operates Cole’s Fresh Produce in Kingston, said his preparation involves the digging of trenches to prevent the various crops from being water-soaked.

“Crops that have reached maturity stage will be reaped. Other crops will be secured by the trimming of branches and the removal of some leaves. My concerns are more centred on the cost of fertiliser and constant irrigation for some crops that rely heavily on water.”

Riley also suggested that farmers should “harvest crops that are in the field and are at the stage of maturity and secure livestock by taking them to a secured sheltered area”.

While Gordon agreed, he argued that farmers can only do so if space is available.

“No storage facility is the biggest drawback we have. People can do that if they have place to store it. But there is no storage facility, so you leave the crop and, in other words, you’re just in time reaping. You are reaping to take it to market, and that is a major concern we have. The management of agriculture has gone rapidly downhill to be honest. RADA is doing their best, but they have basket to carry water.”

Some regional farmers have similar concerns. Barbadian farmer Devane Toppin recently added onions to his string of crops.

“Right now we are coming off of this drought where we were getting two hours of water a day. So, currently, I haven’t really gotten anything planned because the economy here is very down right now. Nothing was really selling, so I wasn’t really fussing,” he said in a dejected tone.

Barbados’ Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security said the farmers’ challenges were two-fold: excess water from run-off during heavy rainfall and a lack of water during the dry season.

Keeta Bowens, a St Vincent farmer, told the Sunday Observer that she is putting plans in place to prevent major loss.

“I make drains about my crops so that water won’t run down in the crops. Also, I will store a lot of water and feeds for the goats and pigs. I also try to harvest watermelons and tomatoes before the season starts because they tend to burst from the rain,” she said.

“My biggest concern is losing my animals after a storm because they tend to stray since they are not in a barn. I have two pigs and six goats. I lost everything during the volcano eruption.”

In April 2021 Minister of Agriculture of St Vincent and the Grenadines Saboto Caesar said the local agricultural losses amounted to more than EC$150 million following a series of volcanic eruptions the same month that left the country in a state of emergency, affecting the availability and affordability of food.