Green mulls bridge for Llandewey onion growers

A drive through the Yallahs River to the onion farms of Abby in St Thomas opened Agriculture Minister Floyd Green's eyes to a pressing issue that has long plagued farmers in the area: inaccessibility.

As he witnessed firsthand the challenges farmers face when trying to access their farms, especially during heavy rains, Green made a firm commitment to finding a solution.

"Having come to this area, I am going to send our RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Authority) engineering team to see how we can work with the farmers in the area to ensure that they have access [to their farms], even when the river is in spate," Green declared.

"Clearly, they have an access challenge. It is OK when the river is not doing so badly, but they need at least a bridge that they can [use to] come into this area and tend to their crops."

The onion farms are located on one side of the river, while the bustling community sits on the other. Agriculture, however, has taken on new life in the area, as lands which were used for the cultivation of tobacco decades ago are being used for onion production. Green said that thanks to the efforts of farmers in the area, Jamaica is set to surpass the target set for onion production in 2025. He said that his ministry has been working to boost overall productivity concerning onion production in Jamaica.

"We want to ensure that people are getting the yield out of the hectares. We are seeing, for the most part, farmers are meeting the productivity targets, and we are even seeing some farmers exceed productivity targets," Green said, after concluding a series of farm tours in Heartease and Llandewey last week.

"We have already, for the month of February, exceeded the target that we were looking at in terms of how much onions we have coming out, so we expect that to keep going throughout the season," he shared.

Green has indicated that the ministry intends to further encourage production by providing support through infrastructure development and the infusion of technology. He said that the ministry is working to ensure that farmers are able to access small tools and machinery that will make agricultural tasks, such as land preparation, easier.

"We have seen a lot of female farmers in this belt, and we want to encourage our female farmers and ensure that we see more of them getting involved, and that's why we have to infuse more technology in what we do.

"We are going to be using the technology to be more efficient, more productive and, ultimately, for the farmers to make more money," he added.