A cane farmer says he is calling on the Government to take steps to assist farmers to market their produce.

He said he was watching the news on the television one night this week when the plight of some tomato farmers in St. Thomas was highlighted.

"I know how frustrating it can be to have no means of marketing your crops", the famer said.

He explained that several years he lost a lot of money because of bad roads and lack of transportation, several farmers in his community were unable to transport their cane to the factory.

"It is not an easy task to plant your crops and to watch them rotting in the fields because there is no market for them. I know the poor farmers have spent money and time to plant their tomato crop and now it is time for reaping they have to leave them in the fields to rot.

"The Government should take immediate steps to assist the farmers in marketing their crops and compensate or give some sort of financial assistance, even in the form of loans, to those who suffer severe losses," he said.

According to the concerned farmer, perhaps the time has come for the farmers in certain communities to unite and "take steps for a certain number of them to plant cash crops, such as tomatoes, weeks or months apart so as to prevent a glut on the market.

"I once borrowed money from a financial institution to do farming and used a lot of land as collateral. I faced difficulty with my farm because of theft and at the end of the day, the land used as collateral was sold by the financial institution because I could not repay the loan.

"I do hope that these farmers did not borrow money to do their farming because they could now be facing serious problems," the farmer added. He wondered if the farmers could sue the Government for its failure to assist them in marketing their crops.

It is unfortunate that the farmers have no ready market for their crops and you are perfectly correct to say that the Government should take steps to assist the farmers in marketing their crops. It is unlikely that the farmers will succeed if they file a suit against the Government to recover damages for losses incurred.