As farmers in Eastern St Thomas gear up for unprecedented success in cassava cultivation, Nigel Levy, a farmer from the Plantain Garden River Agro-Park, is convinced that they have found a crop that’s resilient to weather challenges, which will yield significant economic benefits for the rural community.

Levy shared that the farmers there have turned to cassava as a steady crop that can survive the vagaries of weather and it is proving to be quite rewarding economically.

He shared that over the years, particularly during the Christmas season, he would struggle to grow crops such as pepper, pumpkin, and onions, resulting in financial difficulties.

“I [decided] then to plant some cassava, as it will weather the storm. It is affected [by the weather] but not much. You may lose some, like 10 per cent based on water, and some will rot, but you can be sure of it. So, we try to implore fellow farmers around us [to plant] based on our experience,” said Levy.

With more than 40 farmers benefiting from the financial gains of cultivating cassava at the 200-acre Plantain Garden River Agro-Park, they want to form an association to increase the acreages of the crop under cultivation.

The farmers successfully reaped more than 50 acres of cassava during the Christmas season. Now, they aim to put between 200 and 300 acres of cassava into production within the Plantain Garden River plate to create an industry similar to western communities like Yallahs, which are blazing a trail in onion production.

“Yallahs, right now, is the main producer of onions in the Caribbean, so what we are establishing now is… we are looking at crops that we think can do well, and that’s why we are encouraging and building a cassava industry because we know the crop can do well out here,” Levy shared.

The East St Thomas cassava farmers supply large and small exporters. The bulk of their produce is used to make chips or bammy. Some of their buyers include Rainforest Caribbean and Twickenham Industries.

Extension officer at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Shantel Halliday, shared that the agency is helping the farmers to achieve their goal by providing them with a one-acre land subsidy and operational assistance such as ploughing or bedding.

“We are also out there on a daily basis facilitating the farmers in terms of knowledge and in terms of training because there are a lot of new entrants, and they don’t really understand the dynamics, so we are facilitating them,” Halliday explained.

She added that RADA has also introduced the farmers to new buyers while appealing for additional people to help facilitate marketing for the farmers.

Additionally, the Cassava Farmers’ Association is in the pipeline for formation this year.

Halliday said that she is optimistic that the plans to build a cassava industry will be as successful as onion production in Yallahs.

“We can reach there because currently, we have over 120 hectares [288 acres] under production [in the entire Eastern St. Thomas], and persons are still getting involved in cassava production,” she shared.

The RADA officer further shared that adverse weather conditions in the late part of last year led to some delays in land preparation. Before these challenges, buyers were acquiring up to 30,000 pounds of cassava daily.

She expressed optimism that, once the weather improves, farmers can anticipate a not-too-distant future where the cassava industry in Eastern St Thomas becomes both lucrative and influential.