Five months after flash floods swept through St Lucy and devastated farmland, growers say they are finally seeing new crops take root — but the government support pledged in the aftermath has yet to materialise.
Farmers affected by the sudden November 2025 rains and resulting floods are now witnessing gradual growth of fresh crops after their fields were left waterlogged and bare.
In November, when Barbados TODAY spoke to a spokesperson for the farmers, Hamilton Corbin, he reported visiting five farms, all inundated with water, leaving crops at risk of rotting.
Hamilton Corbin. (LG)
On Tuesday, three farms were on the road to recovery following the November flash flooding.
One of the farmers visited was Corbin himself. He said he had been forced to abandon one side of his farm that was affected by flooding and focus on another part to avoid a total loss.
He said: “I had things like watermelons, peppers and sweet potatoes, which were significantly affected too. It might not have killed off the sweet potatoes, but it did hamper their production because having the roots exposed and that kind of stuff with the passing water would have interfered with the process the plant goes through. We had things like hot peppers, which were knocked down; they’ve never really recovered.”
Watermelons coming up on Corbin’s farm. (LG)
Some hot peppers remaining on Corbin’s farm. (LG)
Corbin said that while he does not have exact figures, he had lost a steady stream of income as regular customers who depended on his supplies were affected.
He noted that his farm was not the only one hit, due to the topography of the area.
“I know it was pretty much a wide cross section of farmers that were affected because we are in what I would say a very low-lying area. Everything that comes here as water comes from the higher plains, so it kind of just runs in this direction in order to get to the sea.”
Corbin added that drainage problems, caused by a lack of proper canal clearing, allowed water to spread and destroy crops.
A statement from the Ministry of Agriculture in November declared the government’s commitment to assisting farmers affected by the flooding, but the farmers say no help has reached them.
While no assistance came from the ministry, the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC) had launched a project that was now yielding crops.
“I think it should have been in place for a while because what it does is subtract from the level of marketing, and having to run around there and do so much different things,” Corbin said. “Right now I’m doing onions and a bit of butternut squash. I already did butternut squash [before the flood], and it went pretty well.”
Hamilton Corbin’s butternut squash and onion on the farm. (LG)
Corbin told Barbados TODAY he is turning to low‑input crops to rebuild his farm after giving up on melons and peppers that were severely damaged: “I had to literally abandon them because to keep stalking a dead horse is a waste of time, and what we have to do is rebuild. With the sweet potatoes, we’re just salvaging what we can right now and then we will start back again.
“We have to go into more, what I would say, low‑input crops, so that we can at least still do something. Within a few weeks, maybe another four weeks or so, we should be able to harvest.”
Nearby, another farmer, Indar, whose land was also affected by the flash flooding, said: “I did plant onions. I lost the onion. I did my pumpkin. I plant different things; I just changed the crop.”
Indar’s farm. (LG)
He is currently planting potatoes, okra, peppers, cucumbers, cantaloupe and courgette.
Across from Indar is Ivor Cox, who said his farm was not significantly affected by last year’s rain but that his main challenge now is finding labour in the north.
Ivor Cox’s farm. (LG)
Cox said: “I’m in a little predicament in getting the ground pulled and prepared. The ground is already prepared in another section and is already yielding produce. Labour would cause me to lose my mind, I have two people working, and they are working slow.”
He said he usually plants cucumber, squash, potatoes, okra, beans and hot pepper.
Onion bulbs on Hamilton Corbin’s farm. (LG)
Corbin said crop farmers feel overlooked despite their role in national food security.
“If things happen in other areas with pig farming, there’s assistance, but when it comes to the vegetable and crop farming, you know, it is difficult to find that the assistance doesn’t come as fast as it should… we are looking to help feed our nation, I think that sometimes it’s just brushed one side too easily.”
(LG)
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