Struggling farmer pushing on for his boys

Despite the mounting challenges facing Jamaica's agricultural sector, particularly from devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last October, many farmers say their greatest source of strength remains their families.

For 48-year-old Junior Salmon, a farmer of Neif Mountain in St Elizabeth, that motivation is deeply rooted in his commitment to his sons.

"You asked me what keeps me going? Beside my faith, it's my boys, two of them attending Munro [College] doing well, both on the [Schools' Challenge] quiz team too, enuh," he said proudly.

"I know I have to do this for my kids, my wife and my family and any other individuals in need who depend on me from time to time." His older son is in lower sixth form, after copping 10 CSEC subjects.

"My second son is in fifth form; he did two and was successful, he's doing an additional eight now," he beamed. "Mi first son wants to be a neurosurgeon, and my second son wants to become a corporate lawyer."

But his smile dropped, as he thought about the current decline in the agricultural sector for farmers. A glut in the market has made it difficult for Salmon to sell his produce, especially his tomatoes. This is affecting his family.

"All their education is funded by myself and wife who is a teacher and teaching don't pay money," he lamented. Salmon estimates his losses in the millions. While he acknowledged that farming can be profitable, he paused for some time when asked whether he had encouraged his sons to pursue the field.

"I don't believe enough emphasis is placed on the farming sector. This sector can rival the tourist sector any day. If the tourist don't come, we still need to eat and COVID taught us that. So, more resources and emphasis need to be placed on farming in terms of storing, processing and the like," he said.

Among his challenges, is a debt to the bank, from which he had taken a loan to purchase a truck.

"The truck assists me because we don't have irrigation water up this side, so the truck assists me with getting water to the farm," he said. Salmon admitted that without government intervention or marketing, he is unsure how to proceed.

"Probably I will have to check with family and friends to go back into production because right now I am depleted," Solomon said. He noted that rain had a devastating effect on his tomatoes.

"When the rain come and the sun come, they are going to rot, so these needed to be picked and stored in cold storage facility. There is one down there, but I don't know what is happening with that one. We haven't received assistance from that facility yet," he said. The stagnant market, he said, has deepened the problem.

"The higglers will come, even now they are offering $10 a pound for tomatoes. It's not economic to pick for that but even that they are not coming either, because of the tremendous glut," said Salmon, who stated that he can supply more than 70,000 pounds of tomatoes.

As president of the Neif Mountains Evergreen Farmers Benevolent Society, representing more than 70 farmers, Salmon warned against imports.

"When you import, you are supporting farmers from another country and causing us to go down financially and economically and the country will suffer on a whole."

He added, "I am saying to the [agriculture] minister, we need tangible assistance, and when I say assistance I don't mean one bag of fertiliser and one bag a seed. That can't do anything. You have to assess the farmers individually, it can't be one size fits all." Despite the setbacks, Salmon remains determined to continue.

"I have to be thinking to go back into production because I don't have an option. It is crippling but I trust in God. I don't know where the assistance will come from, but ... I trust God to do it for us."