Sweet corn bears brunt of Grace’s rage at Bernard Lodge
Published:Thursday | August 19, 2021 | 12:09 AM
While the majority of farmers at Bernard Lodge in St Catherine were spared losses, sweet corn farmers were hard hit by Tuesday’s passing of Tropical Storm Grace.
An acre of Paul Henry’s sweet corn crop, almost ready to reap, was flattened over by winds and rain as the weather system made its slow trek across the island.
“These have been damaged by the water and already, some of them are getting rancid,” Henry told The Gleaner yesterday as he examined the field, seeing how much of the crop can be salvaged.
“In our good seasons, we can reap $800,000 out of a field like this, with over 10,000 corn in it. We normally come out with 80 per cent of it, yielding about 800 dozen,” he explained.
Other plots of sweet corn were also blown down, but he said they can be restored on their own.
Vaughn Henry, another corn farmer, estimated that 25 per cent of his crop was affected, explaining that their slender stalk makes corn plants vulnerable to damage from windy conditions.
“I will be using sticks to raise them up until the corn grows and [the plants] is able to support itself. They are about three and a half weeks old, so they have five more weeks and could actually push back down strong roots and still bear well,” he said.
Farm worker Rodney Brown said that some of the Scotch bonnet pepper plants were affected by the weather system.
He said it was not “massive damage” and had already started restoration work.
Okras and cucumbers were among the crops that weathered the winds and rain.
A female worker was seen reaping okras and could comfortably move through the rows.
Farmers said that the rains from Tropical Storm Elsa in July were an eye-opener, which saw the managers of the land placing marl on the farm roads.
That improvement allowed access to the farms during and shortly after Tuesday’s heavy rains this time around.