Christopher Tufton during a Editor's Forum at the Gleaner Offices on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 - file

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caretaker for South West St. Elizabeth, Dr. Chris Tufton, has welcomed the commissioning of the Pedro Plains Irrigation System. This collaborative effort between the Government and the Caribbean Development Bank will assist hundreds of farmers in the constituency to access a consistent source of water, which should positively impact agricultural yields.

Dr. Tufton said that "For too long, farmers and the country in general, have suffered from the negative consequences of drought, which has resulted in inconsistent supply and quality of agricultural output in this area. This system is definitely a positive development and one which I intend to support fully to its completion in years to come."

While praising the system however, the JLP candidate in the coming election said that it was important that the Government did not become complacent and ad hoc in its approach towards securing the viability of farmers in the area. He said that much more was needed, as if no follow-up action takes place, the new system could create more harm than good to the farming sector.

Inequity

He said that currently there is inequity between those farmers who access the system and those who cannot. For example, farmers in the Flaggaman area of Pedro Plains will find it more difficult to compete with those farmers who have the system. Similarly, the farmers who benefit from the system will have more consistent outputs and will likely be challenged to find reliable markets for their produce.

Dr. Tufton is recommending that the Government set a definitive timetable for the completion of Phase Two of the irrigation project to ensure that farmers who are not currently benefiting from irrigation water will come on-stream as soon as possible.

According to him, this will level the playing field and ensure that all farmers on the Pedro Plains and its surrounding areas have access to consistent water supply.

Further, he said, it is also important that farmers be exposed to drip irrigation technology as a more efficient use of water resources that are now available.

In addition, Dr. Tufton has called on the Government to more aggressively coordinate agricultural marketing efforts to ensure that expected higher yields by farmers are supported by efforts to secure value added processing and markets for produce.

This is fundamental to the success of the new irrigation programme as farmers stand to suffer from gluts on the market once production improves and demand remains stagnant, said the JLP Senator.