Major crop losses were feared by farmers in St Lucy after heavy rains and flash floods submerged farmlands from Sunday night into Monday, leaving crops ruined just weeks before the vital Christmas harvest.
Hamilton Corbin, president of the St Lucy Farmers’ Association, told Barbados TODAY that he had visited five farms inundated with water, leaving crops at risk of rotting.
The flood poses a significant setback for farmers who had been hoping for a good yield during the Christmas season, he said.
“Regular things like the cucumber, sweet peppers … one guy saw his melons … actually, it had some rain earlier this morning too. That added to the prolonged runoff of water,” Corbin said.
“A few other people within those communities, they have one guy that said he lost all onion planting, young seedlings that would have been coming up. They’re completely gone.”
The St Lucy farming spokesman outlined the extent of the crops affected by Sunday’s flooding: “We have situations where farmers have watermelons that really and truly, because of the nature of the name, you would expect, this level of water they still can’t handle, as much watermelon as they are. They can’t handle the water. There have been guys who have lost the back part of their crop to the flooding; the same way they had plants, now they have nothing to show that a plant was there.”
He explained that even crops not completely destroyed may not survive. “They have been submerged in water… the actual vines were pulled, their roots exposed. Some of them still have only fruit, but when you have this kind of water passing and submerging the plant, they pick up a lot of fungi and stuff, and bacteria that affect the plant within a day or so.
“So, you will find a lot of vegetables starting to fall in, and if not treated in time, ‘cause a part of that not being treated at this time is how wet the ground is right now for people to be able to go through the grounds.”
He also expressed farmers’ concerns about their holiday income.
“They’re very concerned that we will not be able to have anything going on for Christmas,” he said. “It’s not just the farmers, but there are people, the employees, who would obviously be looking forward to having that income also for the Christmas period. It is going to be a very dicey thing.”
Corbin highlighted farmers’ concerns over government support, saying they are waiting to see if “much-deserved help” will be forthcoming.
A statement from the Ministry of Agriculture reaffirmed the government’s commitment to assisting farmers affected by the flooding.
Acting Chief Agricultural Officer Michael James said the government intends to act quickly to assess the damage and urged farmers to report losses as soon as possible.
“We want to get out early and have farmers send in or call in their damage or losses due to this rain. The faster we receive the information, the quicker we can evaluate the situation and respond appropriately,” James said.
louriannegraham@barbadostoday.bb
The post Christmas harvest in jeopardy after flash floods ruin crops appeared first on Barbados Today.
