Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir is reporting severe damage to crops in several agricultural districts following intense flooding over the weekend.
After a field assessment, he identified Mount Poyer and other districts in St Lucy as being particularly devastated. He confirmed that severe flooding has decimated the crops in the ground, with watersensitive crops such as watermelons being destroyed.
“The damage is unprecedented. This has made it very difficult for farmers to be able to recoup any losses,” Weir said.
He added that the ministry is compiling an assessment of the damage to determine the full extent of the losses. While the lands are expected to take two
weeks to become dry, he acknowledged that the flooding would adversely impact the sector’s last quarter production.
Weir said the ministry’s priority was to help farmers and get them back into the field as early as possible to rebuild production. (BGIS)