Banana losses at $2.1 billion, with 74% crop destruction
Published:Thursday | July 25, 2024 | 12:06 AM
The Ministry of Agriculture is reporting that the banana industry suffered extensive damage amounting to $2.1 billion in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, which impacted the island on July 3.
Officials from the ministry, who appeared before the Public Administration and Appropriations Accounts (PAAC) Committee yesterday, reported that commercial farmers lost 1,200 hectares of the crop.
Permanent Secretary Dermon Spence said the hurricane wiped out banana crops in St Thomas and Portland.
Janet Colie, general manager of the Banana Board, said that 74 per cent of banana plants were destroyed.
Commercial banana farmers had planted a total of 1,500 hectares of the crop, with 1,200 hectares severely affected.
“We have already put systems in place to allocate [fertilisers] ... . We know the farmers, we know the areas, we know the volume that we have, and we have done the allocation,” Colie told PAAC members.
She said the crop is expected to return in nine months.
“It’s a crop that stays with you and you reap every week and every other week. That’s the nature of it,” said Colie.
Providing an update on the impact on the agricultural sector, Spence said that livestock, fisheries, crops, and agricultural infrastructure suffered damage amounting to $6.5 billion.
He said that more than 48,000 farmers were counting their losses, with approximately 23,040 hectares affected.
Nearly 690,000 square feet of greenhouses were extensively damaged, incurring losses in the sum of $856 million.
More than 62 kilometres of farm roads were also damaged, requiring repairs in the sum of $165 million.
Damage to the National Irrigation Commission’s network, including broken mains and solar equipment, amounted to $400 million.