1 month ago
5
Unpredictable weather patterns may affect agricultural output in Jamaica for the rest of the year, even as farmers seek to grow varieties of crops that are more resilient to extreme weather events.
President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society Owen Dobson indicated that some farmers have not been able to fulfil orders for crops such as lettuce, because of the unusual patterns of rainfall.
“Parishes like Westmoreland and Hanover are getting a good amount of rain right now. But I spoke to some farmers in St Elizabeth who are saying drought is a major concern,” Dobson told the Financial Gleaner.
The rainfall pattern in July is in stark contrast to year ago when Hurricane Beryl swiped Jamaica, causing widespread damage to the agricultural sector, which contributes about nine per cent to the country’s economic output or gross domestic product, and accounted for 14.6 per cent of employment in 2023.
Last week, the Jamaican government allocated $350 million to mitigate the impact of the dry period. Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining will spend $100 million on drought mitigation measures for farmers, such as water trucking, drip irrigation systems and grass purchases.
POSING A CHALLENGE
The move was in response to reports from the Meteorological Service of Jamaica that the island was receiving less rainfall than usual based on its 30-year averages, the minister said.
“We know the weather is changing where the rainy months are becoming dry months and the dry months are turning to rainy months,” said Dobson. “For the farmers who have no irrigation, drip or anything like that, it is posing a challenge,” he said.
JP Tropical Foods, a large agricultural enterprise, is experimenting with more weather-resilient crop varieties, based on lessons learnt from Hurricane Beryl, from which its production fully recovered in February of this year.
General Manager of JP Tropical Foods, Mario Figueroa, said the company is experimenting with dwarf banana and plantain trees that grow to 2.5 metres or half the height of the five-metre traditional trees.
It is expected that the dwarf trees will be more resistant to strong winds. They take nine months to mature, just like the taller trees, Figueroa said.
JP Farms has also planted varieties of local lumber trees, including Spanish Elm, mahogany and blue mahoe, to serve as windbreaks.
“We plant these trees along the edges of the farm to protect it against the winds,” he said.
Figueroa said the weather in St Mary, where JP Tropical Foods’ farms are located, has been hard to predict.
“In St Mary we are having a complicated year because it is a year with the highest levels of rainfall but has been badly distributed. We have had months with no rain and then in one day, lots of water, which is not healthy for the plants,” he said.
JP Farms has been using irrigation and drainage techniques to optimise production on the farm, which produces bananas, plantains and pineapples that are supplied to the local market. The company is also experimenting with growing guavas on a small parcel of land.
English (US) ·