Hi-Pro, on Thursday (July 25), handed over J$5 million in agricultural inputs to the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) to assist farmers impacted by the passage of Hurricane Beryl. 

The items include fertilisers, pig, chicken and goat feed, seeds and chemicals.

The donation represents a continuation of support by the company to Jamaican farmers, with more than 140,000 baby chicks and tonnes of feed distributed to small chicken farmers since July 8.

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green, addressing the handover ceremony held at Hi-Pro’s offices in White Marl, St Catherine, commended the entity for the immediacy of their response.

“I want to applaud Hi-Pro for not waiting to do the whistles and bells before going out there to respond to the needs of our farmers. I want to commend [Hi-Pro vice president, Colonel (Ret’d)] Jaimie Ogilvie, and the team for hitting the ground in the first week after Hurricane Beryl,” he said.

Green noted that the most productive parishes of Clarendon, St. Elizabeth and Manchester, which are responsible for about 60 per cent of total agriculture output, were hardest hit by the hurricane’s passage.

He said that Hurricane Beryl’s blow to the agriculture and fisheries sector, which stood at J$5.7 billion as at July 16, continues to climb.

“We are now at about J$6.5 billion in damage. We’ve been able to get more figures from our fishers. Rebuilding the sector would normally take one and a half times the cost of the loss, so we are looking at close to J$10 billion to get us back to where we were before Hurricane Beryl hit us,” the minister argued.

For his part, Ogilvie said that Hi-Pro’s aim is to help minimise the loss in production.

“In areas that were not as impacted, areas that still had electricity and water, we are pushing more chicks in those areas, so that they could continue production,” he pointed out.

Ogilvie said that Hi-Pro has provided some J$35 million in assistance to the agriculture sector, noting that the support will continue.

“The sector needs all the support it can get. Every day that we delay farmers getting back into production is another week of economic disaster,” he mused further.

Ogilvie urged corporate Jamaica to pour money into the sector as farmers continue their rebound.

“We don’t want to see any posts on social media of one tomato in the supermarket that costs J$1,600. That is what is coming if the sector doesn’t get the help it requires, so let us support our farmers who have proven time and time again their resilience and initiative,” he said.