$200 million and counting ... Hurricane Sandy leaves massive coffee bill

Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer

CHRISTOPHER GENTLES, director general of the Coffee Industry Board, is wary of putting a dollar figure on the damage wreaked on the sector by Hurricane Sandy more than two weeks ago. It is still too early to make an accurate assessment, he told The Gleaner this week.

Said he: "We try not to be in the business of guesstimates. We think that based upon early feedback from farmers, the national crop damage would be no more than 15-20 per cent. There are some farmers who suffered 30-40 per cent crop damage, but the tree damage cannot be verified until we get verification later in November after a proper survey."

Gentles' caution is grounded in the experience of 1988 when Hurricane Gilbert struck Jamaica on September 12. The original estimate of damage took into account the value of berries beaten off the trees as well as trees torn out of the ground. However, it did not factor in damage to the root system of plants left standing, the upper portion of which had fared well. Almost three weeks later, farmers were reporting that trees originally thought to be salvageable were dying. This resulted in a lot of the berries left on trees - and which were reaped subsequently - going bad. In fact, a good percentage of the berries harvested in the wake of the hurricane proved to be bad when floated.

INITIAL FIGURE

It is this kind of experience, which has informed Gentles' cautiousness when asked to put a figure on the estimated fallout from Hurricane Sandy. His eventual answer? "J$175-200 million initially, and that's based on 15 per cent of a US$20-million industry."

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke has indicated that about a quarter of the more than 1,000 fifty-pound bags of fertiliser donated last week by Newport-Fersan Jamaica Limited will be distributed to coffee farmers.

"This will supplement efforts being made by the agriculture ministry to purchase at least $40 million worth of fertiliser for the coffee industry. We can always use a little bit more, but [this] will go a far way in satisfying some of our needs," Clarke told The Gleaner at the handover of the fertilisers this week.

Given the high moisture content in the soil as a result of the rainfall brought by the hurricane, early replacement of nutrients lost through leaching is important in resuscitating coffee cultivation. In addition to the donation of 1,000 bags - with an estimated value of $3 million - Newport-Fersan, which enjoys a 90 per cent share of the local fertiliser market, will also offer discounts to the agriculture ministry when it purchases supplies to help the more than 37,000 farmers affected by the hurricane.

"Being able to give back to our customers by donating these bags of fertiliser - and extending discounted rates on a range of fertilisers - demonstrates our commitment to the industry and to the wider Jamaica," said Dennis Valdez, managing director of Newport-Fersan.