Overripe tomatoes are rotting away on farms across sections of St Elizabeth, symbolising the crushing financial losses farmers are facing. Struggling with an oversupply of crops, farmers are being forced to sell their tomatoes for a mere $15 per pound, yet a dire shortage of buyers leaves them with no choice but to watch their investment wilt away.
"It is very discouraging. I only do it because I provide employment for a few guys, and I can get back some money to buy some seeds. But there is no profit in it at this pricing right now," Junior Dyer told The Weekend Star during a visit to his Flagaman-based farm on Wednesday.
Dyer added that, although the larger "table salads" are currently going for $60 a pound, he has received offers of $20 per pound for his smaller tomatoes. He explained that, because he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his farm, these price tags have been devastating.
"I have two guys working for me and they get between $4,000 and $5,000 per day. A pack of the seeds is for $15,000, and you get roughly 1,100 seedlings. But, after germination, you might get 1,000. I use Actara insecticide to wet the soil, and a pack of the small sachet is for $800," said Dyer.
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