Agriculture official laments that costly damage to Christian farm could set back the industry and hamper food security

Olawabi Elabanjo, the Senior Extension Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the recent attack on a local farmer could seriously hamper the country’s food security and other strides in agriculture.

Vandals, over two weeks ago, went onto the farm of veteran farmer Alvin Christian and maliciously destroyed over 90 percent of his citrus crops and coconut palms.

Christian, a well-known farmer and water-management consultant, returned to his farm in Bathlodge to discover that 99 percent of the young palms had been chopped near their roots and more than 100 special citrus trees were slashed below the point of their graft.

Elabanjo is confused as to why someone would want to cause this type of destruction to the agriculture sector.

Given the current issues with the food-supply chain worldwide, this does not augur well for the country, Elabano says.

He estimates that Christian’s losses exceed EC$100,000.

The Police continue to investigate this matter; however, no arrests have been made, to date.