Cedric Johnson, Freelance WriterWestmoreland:
WESTMORELAND CONTINUES to be one of the leading parishes in domestic food crop production, joining St. Catherine, Manchester and St. Elizabeth as the top four, each producing well over 50,000 tons of food crops for the local and overseas markets.
During 2001, Westmoreland recorded a marginal growth of 1.60 per cent in food crop production over the previous year. The actual figures stood at 51,249 tons in 2000 as against 52,247 tons in 2001. This amounts to a significant 19.60 per cent of the island's total production for the period.
Parish manager of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Conrad Tharkur, disclosed the figures during an interview with The Gleaner on April 29. "The major per crop groups were vegetables at 18,000 tons in 2000 and 19,780 tons in 2001, followed by fruits - 3,726 tons in 2000 and 4,400 tons in 2001," said Mr. Tharkur, who pointed out that this increase in vegetable and fruit production was directly influenced by the attractive farmgate price and the export and local demand for particular crops such as hot pepper and pawpaw.
"With regard to livestock, cattle farmers in the parish continue to experience the effects of what is generally accepted as a sluggish market. However, the direction now is towards goat production and two of our Members of Parliament have assisted in this area by donating a couple Nubian bucks to the Westmoreland Goat Farmers' Association," said the RADA parish manager. He added that Westmoreland continues to do well in pig and poultry production.
Mr. Tharkur pointed out that agricultural activities during the period were adversely affected by the weather pattern, which was quite unpredictable, varying from dry conditions in sections of the parish to excessive rainfall in some areas. "This restricted crop establishment and productivity. Farmers, however, took advantage of the better periods and applied a fair amount of crop substitution," he pointed out.
According to Mr. Tharkur, factors that had a positive impact on overall farm output were tangible assistance from the Social and Economic Support Programme (SESP), Domestic Food Crop and Marketing Project (DECMP), Drought and Rehabilitation Programme and Gravity-fed Irrigation Systems, as well as RADA and the continuous Farmer Training Programme.
Looking to the future, Mr. Tharkur said higher productivity can be achieved if more farmers made themselves available for training opportunities and applied the technology taught. "The addition of more drip irrigation could also increase productivity, the quality of produce and good financial returns," he said.
