The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining will implement a $100-million large-scale recovery programme for banana and plantain farmers, after Hurricane Melissa wiped out the country’s commercial crop during its passage on October 28, 2025.

The programme, which will be implemented by The Banana Board and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), is expected to assist approximately 5,000 banana and plantain farmers and rehabilitate more than 2,500 hectares of damaged farms.

“We’re going to provide them with some fertiliser based on verified damage assessments and farm size to ensure equity and effectiveness. We did this after Hurricane Beryl, and we saw good returns on the investment,” Portfolio Minister Floyd Green explained.

He was speaking at a recent press briefing at the Ministry’s head office at Hope Gardens in St Andrew.

The minister stated that while the banana and plantain crops are expected to take between six to eight months to be replenished, it is hoped that with this intervention, the timeline will be accelerated.

Green noted that several banana and plantain farmers have already begun the recovery process, aided by a catastrophe fund managed by The Banana Board.

He confirmed that payouts have been issued to support the nutritional programmes necessary for rebuilding the farms.

“A lot of them were out very early after Hurricane Melissa, trying to stand back up, trying to cut, trying to make sure that they can get production as quickly as possible,” Minister Green said.

The minister further noted that importation of bananas and plantains cannot be facilitated while the industry recovers, as the risk of disease contamination is too high.

“The Banana Board and the teams have done an excellent job of keeping Jamaica free from some of the diseases that have plagued banana and plantain crops all over the world, and we want to keep it that way,” the minister emphasised.