LINSTEAD, ST. CATHERINE:
THOUSANDS OF dollars of agricultural produce and milk supplied by farmers were lost as a result of the flood rains that swept the parish last week.
One banana farmer at Tulloch Estate lost three acres of export crop valued at half million dollars while some 30 dairy farmers lost sales of milk valuing about $22,000 during the recent flood rains.
Dairy farmers who supply milk to the Bog Walk factory (Jamaica Milk Products) in St. Catherine were unable to get their product to the factory for processing as a result of roads being blocked by water and debris in the northern section of the parish.
One purchaser has estimated the loss to these dairy farmers, over a five-day period, at about 15,000 quarts of fresh milk valuing approximately $22,000.
These dairy farmers who own small plots of land varying from one to three acres in the communities of Troja, Riversdale, Glengoffe and Guys Hill, usually take their fresh milk destined for the Bybrook Condensery to a collection centre in Guy's Hill. However, the Guy's Hill road was blocked by landslides last week.
Earlier this week some dairy farmers bemoaned the loss, as the money earned from the sale of milk goes towards sending children to school and meeting the monthly instalments on furniture and medical care for the family when necessary.
Meanwhile, the Rio Cobre, which overflowed its banks during the recent heavy rains, swept away three acres of export bananas from the Tulloch Estates in Bog Walk, St. Catherine, owned and operated by Mr. Roger Turner. Mr. Turner said the loss is set at more than $1/2 million.
The Tulloch Estate has won several prizes for the best export bananas to the United Kingdom.
Several small farmers lost cash crops such as bananas, peas, cabbage, okras, tomatoes and other crops when the Rio Cobre swept into agricultural areas in the Glengoffe, Troja and Riversdale communities.
Farmers Mrs. Muriel Pine and Mrs. Mazie Hinds, who usually sell their crops on the local market, told The Gleaner that they lost thousands of dollars worth of cash crops. They could not give a precise figure, they said, because prices fluctuate from time to time depending on the demand for the item.
