The agriculture sector has suffered major damages following the passage of Tropical Storm Bret last Thursday.
Minister for Agriculture Hon. Alfred Prospere says a preliminary assessment on the sector was done on Saturday, June 24th, 2023 into Sunday, June 25th, 2023 and the assessment revealed that 75% of the banana industry was severely damaged as a result of the storm.
He says out of two thousand and ninety-six acres of bananas before the storm, it has been recorded that one thousand five hundred and eighty-nine acres of the banana plantation had been affected.
The minister says the plantain sub-sector was also affected and sustained major damage as out of eight hundred and ninety-five acres on ground before, approximately six hundred and seventy-eight acres were destroyed.
“As you know Tropical Storm Bret affected St. Lucia Thursday last week and it caused major damage to the agricultural sector. We conducted a preliminary assessment of the sector on Saturday morning into Sunday, and it revealed that 75% of the banana industry was severely damaged as a result of the storm. Out of 2096 acres of bananas before the storm, we have recorded an amount of 1589 acres of the banana plantation that were affected as a result of the storm.” the minister disclosed at a Monday briefing.
“The plantain sub-sector also sustained major damage, and out of 895 acres on ground before the storm, we saw an approximate amount of 678 acres of plantain destroyed.” he added.
Prospere says this concerns him as the banana industry is of great importance and this causes a major setback to meet demands.
“This is a major concern to me as the minister for agriculture because especially considering the demands of the banana industry and the availability of market in the region that we were not meeting recently. This has caused a major setback.” he expressed.
The minister expressed his sympathy for the farmers and reassured them that the government understands the importance of agriculture along with food security thus they will do the best they can to provide support.
“My heart goes out to the farmers, and I want to ensure them, to indicate to them that we as a government, we are a government who’s concerned and understands the importance of agriculture, the importance of food security, we will do the best we can to provide some level of support.” he said.
Prospere says data is being collected presently and the preliminary estimate will be discussed at cabinet Monday morning where the cabinet of ministers will make a decision as to the level of support that will be provided to the farmers.
Photo: Media Stock
