Barbados Agricultural Society warns of shortage of local produce this Christmas

Article by Sheria Brathwaite for Barbados Today – November 7, 2023

Significant weather events are continuing to negatively impact the agriculture sector and officials are predicting that the current shortages of six to eight-week crops and other produce will extend into the Christmas season.

The heads of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul and the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN) Alister Alexander told Barbados TODAY in separate interviews that the supplies of a number of short crops such as cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce and okras were concerningly low, as well as long-growing season crops such as butternut squash and sweet potatoes.

They said 2023 had proven to be a tough year for open field farmers because of the different climate conditions they had to endure.

Paul, BAS’ chief executive officer, said: “We know there are issues with most crops; you are not seeing them in the amounts that you are accustomed to and that is because of the weather. Earlier this year, we had issues with the heat and now with the rains coming in, some of them are pretty heavy in some areas.

“The thing is really that the rain is not uniform and that may be the saving grace because there are some areas where the drainage is good so the impact won’t be great. But, there are others where the drainage is not good and the impact would be disastrous for the farmers. In some cases, you get flooding and if the water remains in the ground for too long it damages the crops,” added Paul, noting that for the first few months of the year, farmers had to put up with drought and then the blistering heat.

During those periods, he said it was difficult to gain bountiful yields as the warm weather caused the water to evaporate extremely quickly and not penetrate the topsoil as it should to give the plants the required dosage of nutrients.

He added that the high soil temperatures also resulted in poor germination.

Paul said that farmers were impacted throughout each quarter of the year.

“This year has been challenging for the farmers and the yields we expected did not materialise,” he said.

Concurring, Alexander predicted that the island would have to depend on more imports.

“It looks like everything as usual is in low abundance; around this time, we tend to have shortages. We continue to face challenges where the weather is concerned.

We have had extreme weather this year – extreme heat – and now with the rain . . . . So we will depend a lot more on imports at this time,” he said.

Barbados has been under a flash flood watch several times within recent weeks, with some areas left underwater after downpours and thunderstorms.