BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Department of Agriculture and the Government are working with farmers to assist in rebounding from the devastation of the sector by Hurricanes Irma.
Damage to the sector amounted to over $10M, and just recently Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris had announced the approval of $300,000 to assist farmers.
However, citizens and residents in the Federation are currently feeling the impact of the damage done to Dominica by Hurricane Maria , as farmers from that island are no longer bring produce on a weekly basis to St. Kitts and Nevis.
Director of Agriculture Melville James confirmed that there is a food shortage in the Federation, but he could not give specifics at the time of the interview, only pointing to plantains and cucumbers as being scarce.
“That is evident on the supermarket shelves. When you go to certain supermarkets at certain times, the space is there…and you would know that X, Y or Z produce would usually be there.”
With that said, James explained that they are only just getting back “on track and getting things done”, but a fair amount of produce had arrived from overseas.
And the effects of that is still being felt, he emphasized, pointing out that a number of items which come out of the Windward Islands are still absent.
He noted that the boats coming out of that section of the region are not as regular as they were in the past, and that is has manifested itself into the empty spaces on the supermarkets’ shelves.
According to the Director, local farmers are planting at this time, with many of them “restarting from the bottom”.
As a result, the Department is not expecting the shortage to be curtailed before the year is out, as James told SKNVibes that the crop cycle is often three months and with the damage occurring in September, they are looking at early 2018 for a full rebound.
“Many of them had replanted after the very first hurricane and things were just coming through, and again they lost them. They are in good position right now as we speak, or sort of an improved position, in that through the support of the Minister of Agriculture, Eugene Hamilton, we have been able to source some level of funding from Government…”
James added that funding has begun to bring relief to famers, including those who were severely affected by the hurricanes.
Depending on the extent of the damage sustained by farmers, some of them have been able to access fencing materials, wiring, fertilizers and feeds, among other items.
It was disclosed that with regards comes to crops, there was an estimated $6M in losses, including acres of watermelon, plantains, bananas and a range of other cash crops.
“So, coming to the end of the year, we are still going to have some challenges, since this is the time that the demand is at its greatest – so one would have to be thinking how to get around that,” James said.
He noted that there are a few products that could be grown in the short term, but the problem would still remain.
