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[QUOTE="Munyaradzi Mafaro, post: 75223, member: 636"]
Jamaica's Banana Board is cutting checks worth J$20 million to 116 farmers who got wrecked by Hurricane Melissa back in October. General Manager Janet Conie said the money helps growers buy fertilizer and restart production after the Category Five storm torched banana fields across the country. If farmers can get fertilizer down within six weeks of the hurricane hitting, they might salvage a harvest in seven months.

The storm absolutely demolished agriculture on the island, with over 70,000 farmers taking losses and 41,390 hectares getting hammered. Banana growers lost about $2.9 billion worth of crops, while vegetables took an $8.8 billion hit. Poultry farmers got destroyed with 458,000 laying birds gone, and another 780,000 broilers wiped out.

Half the insured banana fields already got chopped back to clear damaged plants, and the board expects payouts to wrap up within a month. The Catastrophe Insurance Fund is covering registered farmers who signed up before the storm rolled through.
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