The marketing thrust involves the collation and publication of weekly prices of 14 agricultural items at the farmgate, municipal, retail and wholesale levels, thus equipping buyers with access to real time market intelligence.

At present, some of the crops being targeted include plantain, pumpkin, and several types of yams, carrots, cabbages, and lettuce. Plans are afoot to introduce additional crops as the need arises.

Post-harvest losses

"We only provide for 14 crops that we consider to be the more important crops, but we are looking to add more as resources permit, because ultimately we want to be able to provide the service to a wide array of buyers and what we find for example is that there are crops that hoteliers want to put on the list," explained Dr Derrick Deslandes, marketing consultant in the ministry.

According to Dr Deslandes, farmers who put in the effort to produce are not receiving the rewards because they are forced to sell below the cost of production. He, however, cautioned that measures have been and are being implemented to address post-harvest losses.

"By our estimates, post harvest losses range between 20 and 50 per cent, depending on the type of produce. Put another way, for every pound of produce that the farmer generates, he could lose half of it by the time it gets to the market," he noted.

The collated pricing information will be distributed to the public through SMS text messaging; price boards strategically located islandwide; and an E-newsletter, which will be distributed by extension officers, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and Ministry of Agriculture's websites.

Information can also be assessed through RADA's toll free line 1-888-4295 RADA.