Farmers lose up to $10,000 from excessive rainfall

Heavy rainfall from an active hurricane season has spelled bad news for some farmers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines resulting in crop losses, unemployment and possible price increases on vegetables.

A vegetable damage assessment survey was conducted by the Extension and Advisory Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture during the first week of October 2022 to determine the impact of excessive rainfall on farmers’ vegetable cultivation.

The farmers interviewed were selected randomly from among the major vegetable producers  in Majorca, Forty Acre, Mt. Pleasant, Evesham, Riley, Water house, Green Hill, Fenton, Calder, Akers, Farm, Dauphine and Montreal.

The findings revealed the monetary losses to farmers in these areas, as a result of excessive rainfall, amounted to between $1,000 and $10,000 XCD. A high rate of unemployment was reported among farmers and farm workers and up to 80 per cent of farmers were unable to supply their main buyers during the reporting period.

In addition to monetary losses, the survey also showed that the heavy rains caused increased incidences of pests and diseases, resulting in total destruction of carrots, cucumbers, watermelons and peanut crops and up to 70 percent damage of tomatoes, cabbage and sweet pepper crops.

There were also high incidences of blossom drops which were reflected in low fruit sets as well as poor growth and development of fruits and root vegetables due to excessive nutrient leaching and reduced sunlight.

The Extension and Advisory Services Division has forecasted that over the coming months that there will be a shortage of carrots, cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, sweet peppers, tomato and peanuts from the region surveyed. This is also expected to have an impact on national supply.

If rainfall levels do not reduce significantly for October, then supply will decrease over the coming months causing demand to increase and prices to go up. In an effort to stabilize prices, imports will increase to meet local demand.