Rayon Dyer, Gleaner Writer
BLACK RIVER, St. Elizabeth:
AFTER LESS than five weeks since Hurricane Wilma devas-tated fruits and vegetable crops in southern St. Elizabeth, farmers are anticipating the reaping of several crops that were planted after the hurricane.
Speaking in an interview with Farmers Weekly on Tuesday, veteran farmer, Marcel Ebanks, said he was pleased with how the farmers in southern St. Elizabeth have organised themselves and rebounded from the devastation that came their way following Hurricane Wilma.
CROPS ALMOST READY
"In another two to three weeks we (the farmers in the area) will have some of the necessary fruits and vegetables ready for the domestic market. These include watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, tomato, carrot, and cabbage," Mr. Ebanks said.
But while Mr. Ebanks is optimistic about the agricultural rebound of the parish, another farmer, Clark Taylor, said that the recovery period from the devastation of the local farming sector could take a while longer than the predicted six weeks.
This is because a number of farmers, due to economic constraints, planted their crops late. "I do not see things coming back fully on stream for the local agricultural sector until about eight to nine weeks," Mr. Taylor said, adding that only a minimal number of the farmers will have something to reap over the next two or three weeks.
Efforts to get a response from Neville Morgan, deputy parish manager of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), were unsuccessful as he was said to be out of office.
