The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining has revealed a preliminary estimate of losses sustained by Jamaica’s agriculture sector from the passage of Hurricane Beryl of over $1 billion.

Portfolio minister Floyd Green has further indicated that the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St Elizabeth have suffered the most from the impacts of the tropical cyclone.

“From all our preliminary work thus far, St Elizabeth has been the hardest hit and accounts for 70 per cent of the damage we have seen so far,” Green, also the Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western, highlighted.

Minister Green was speaking during a tour of farms and agricultural infrastructure in St Elizabeth on Saturday, July 6, to assess the damage from Hurricane Beryl.

The agriculture minister outlined that almost all major crop lines have been impacted by the hurricane. He noted that reports from the south indicate damage to vegetable lines, tubers, and fruit trees.

In addition, greenhouse farmers also suffered losses from the hurricane, including their structures, coverings and crops. Green said about 90 per cent of greenhouse farmers across Clarendon, Manchester and St Elizabeth would have suffered some form of damage, with most bearing complete losses, which he says is a “big blow to our agriculture sector.”

“Our greenhouses have normally been the backbone of our food security metrics because they operate in and out of season as how they are structured. So, definitely for our vegetable lines this is going to be a massive, massive blow,” he added.

He said the ministry will be crafting a special response strategy to assist greenhouse farmers.

The agriculture minister also shared that livestock farmers were not spared from the hurricane’s effects, highlighting that poultry farmers were most impacted, having lost birds and housing structures.

“In our crafting a response, we not only have to look at how we help them to restart in terms of restock birds but also to get those structures back up and running. A lot of those structures were very expensive structures because they were top-of-the-line in terms of their design, there were tunnel houses that were unfortunately destroyed,” Green outlined.

He added that he intends to update Parliament this week on the extent of the damage and said the Government will also outline a programme of response.

“We do understand that it needs a quick response [at] this time. We know our farmers are out there and thankful they are resilient so they are ready to get back out there and to get back farming, so we at the ministry will be willing to assist them. I know a number of the private sector have been looking on [it]; we are going to need your help. We will need all hands on deck to bring back our agricultural sector,” he said.

Minister Green shared briefly on the damage to the fisheries sector, highlighting that about 10 to 15 per cent of fishing boats suffered some form of damage. He also noted that assets on fishing beaches such as sheds would have suffered damage and several fisherfolk would have lost pots.