While Florida citrus producers appear to have dodged the bullet when it comes to hurricane Dennis, Jamaican banana producers were not so lucky.
The sector has suffered damage due to torrential rains caused by the hurricane’s passing, however exporters are optimistic exports will not be affected in the short term.
Don Witter, director of human resources and business services at the Jamaica Producers Group, told local newspapers preliminary assessments indicate more than 35 per cent of banana crops in the main banana-producing areas in Portland, St. Thomas and St. Thomas have been damaged.
Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke said the banana and coffee industries have been identified as the worst affected so far. However agencies were still in the field assessing the level of damage.
The damage has come at a time when the banana industry is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Ivan last September, which ravaged the entire agricultural sector.
Some 12,500 boxes of bananas valued at $190,000 were exported to the European Union in May, the first time since Ivan.
According to the Jamaica Gleaner, minister Clarke, who was addressing the Trade Policy Committee of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) recently, noted that the banana industry has declined significantly over the last 12 years, partly due to hurricanes.
He said exports have dropped from a high of 76,000 tonnes in 1993, to a low of 27,000t in 2004.
Meanwhile, Florida may have avoided any significant damage from Dennis, but prior to the hurricane's arrival, late-season rains were hampering growers already struggling with one of the smallest crops in 13 years.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture next week may estimate the crop at 150 million boxes, down from 151.2 million in June, according to the median estimate of seven analysts in a Bloomberg survey, local papers report.
Wet weather is "widespread" across Florida's citrus belt, with growers around Tampa getting over six inches of rain last week, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.
