Billions in post-harvest losses yearly - Tufton

The local farming sector has racked up post-harvest losses of close to $5 billion each year.

Agriculture Minister Dr Chris Tufton disclosed yesterday that this is due to improper post-harvesting practices by farmers.

"We either reap improperly, store improperly (or) transport improperly," Tufton said.

"That's real income that farmers lose each year and it contributes to the bottom line of efficiencies, or lack thereof, in the sector," he added.

The agriculture minister also blasted entities that purchase produce from farmers, but wait for months to make payments.

"Too many of our farmers are the chief financiers of entities that they are unrelated to and that they do not have shares in because they have been asked to wait, in some instances, for months to get paid," he said.

The minister was speaking to reporters just before signing a lease agreement allowing food distribution giant GraceKennedy to operate the new Hounslow Packaging House in St Elizabeth.

Contract for farmers

Under the agreement, which will cost GraceKennedy $2.1 million per year, farmers will be required to sign a contract to sell their produce to the food distribution firm.

Hounslow Packaging House is scheduled to begin operations in December or next January, and will start with farmers closest to the facility.

Calling this approach a major "game changer", Tufton asserted that it could help reduce post-harvest losses and ensure quality and predictability in the sector.

GraceKennedy's Chief Executive Officer, Erwin Burton, said its main role was to provide farmers with a stable market and help them upgrade their technical capabilities.

"For too long, we have gone about it the wrong way. In other words, we put the seeds in the ground first before we know where we are going to sell the produce," Burton said.

He listed several benefits that the Hounslow Packaging House will provide for farmers, chief among them clarity on all the financial arrangements.

"The good thing is that they will know exactly how much we will take from them per month and they will also know the prices that they will be selling their produce for," he said.

In addition, Burton said farmers would see their payments reflected in their accounts within 14 days.