Letter of the Day | Attainable short-term steps in agriculture

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Food security is of utmost importance, as we all found out during the pandemic.

I welcome back Minister Floyd Green to the agriculture ministry as I think he is the one who can transform agriculture in Jamaica. Agriculture cannot be just giving farmers crops to plant. It is more than that. We need to provide post-harvest facilities so that whenever there is a glut the farmers do not panic.

In Jamaica it is either feast or famine when it comes to certain crops. You hear about a glut of tomatoes, glut of onions, etc. This need not be if proper post-harvest facilities are put in place. Tomatoes can have a shelf life of up to six months if stored in a dark cool facility. Onions, if placed in a dryer, can last months.

Gluts should not cause a panic. It should be viewed as an opportunity to store away produce so that it will be available after the end of the crop.

Apples are not grown during the winter in the USA; however, the fruits are available year round. Excess crop is stored and released into the market when the trees no longer bear any fruits.

The common denominator in all of this is post-harvest facilities. Jamaica has a lot of agro-processing facilities. They will also be the driver of the agricultural sector; however, there must be a formal linkage with the processors and farmers.

Many pepper farmers who sell to exporters only come to the processors when they cannot sell their produce on the export market as they no longer meet the specs. For instance, the initial bearing of peppers produces large fruits but as the tree gets older, the fruit gets smaller and can no longer be exported.

My estimate is that only 40 per cent of fresh peppers can be exported, leaving the farmer with 60 per cent to dispose of on the local market. The export farmers tend to shun the processors as the price that they pay is less than the exporter. Most processors who buy produce will not see any return on what was purchased until four to six months down the road. The sector also needs to modernise. We need to achieve proper economies of scale in farming.

Farmers should be advised that planting less than an acre of a certain crop will not be feasible.

There is no quick-fix for the sector but these are some attainable steps that we can make in the short term while we collectively develop a long-term plan.

ANDREW GRAY

Gray’s Pepper