Agriculture & Fisheries Minister Floyd Greene has disclosed preliminary estimate of $300 million for losses suffered by farmers following last week’s heavy rains associated with Tropical Cyclone 22.
The Minister, who disclosed that figure on Friday, added that St. Thomas was the most affected parish, followed by St. Andrew.
He said teams from RADA [Rural Agricultural Development Agency] have been in the field since last Saturday gathering data on damage to the agriculture sector, but announced that already $157 million is being made available to help affected farmers restart operations over the next few weeks.
This is broken down into crop support of approximately $70 million, for assistance with the purchase of fertiliser, seeds and other inputs. Some of the funds will also go towards the purchase of equipment, livestock and the rehabilitation of farm roads.
Mr Green, who was at a ceremony to mark Eat Jamaican Day at the College of Agriculture, Science & Education, said the fertiliser donated by the Kingdom of Morocco will be distributed over the next few weeks.
Source: Radiojamaicanews
