Your editorial of May 1 opens with an excellent headline, 'Frank debate needed on agriculture's way forward', but then closes with a proposal that is not the answer to our production problem - that being the imposition of "high tariffs to protect the domestic farm sector".

Edward Seaga in his column in your paper on November 11, 2007, wrote: "The agricultural sector was particularly fortunate to have been the beneficiary of greater bailouts and subsidies than any other, more tariff preferences than any other, more protection from competition than any other, and yet, the result has been a sustained record of faded fortunes." This proposal can do nothing to improve the productivity of our domestic farm sector, which is the key problem. Jamaican farmers are simply not getting sustainable yields in quantity and quality. What this proposal would do is to increase the price of food at a time when we can least afford this.

Productivity

What we need to do is to find solutions to our low agricultural productivity. In July 2008, I visited the Central Valley (also referred to as 'The Breadbasket of the World') in California to look at various aspects of their agriculture. This area has one of the highest levels of productivity in the world across so many crops. Let us look at carrots as a typical example. In Jamaica, average yields are about five tons per acre. In California, average yields for processing carrots are in the region of 40 to 50 tons per acre.

I have used processing carrots as while the quality standards are lower than fresh market carrots, the quality of those carrots are far superior to carrots grown in Jamaica.

Even the carrots, when being reaped, that fall to the ground and are left there, have a better appearance than those we see in our supermarket ! (As an aside, our sugar industry, after growing a crop for 12 months that is supposed to have more biomass than carrots cannot get a yield anywhere near the carrot yield in California; a crop grown for four months). When we compare farmgate price, the carrot farmers in California are getting US$40 to US$50 per ton. At the current return on equity (ROE) rate, Jamaican carrot farmers are getting in the region of US$600 per ton.

Real solution

Protection by way of tariffs is not the answer. The real solution lies in finding real answers to our low productivity problem and this rests in dealing with the massive soil health problem that exists right across Jamaica. Developed countries, that are no where as badly affected as us, are moving to address this serious issue.

Developing countries, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa have realised that soil health is a major issue to their productivity problem and are moving to address it. Are we really serious about finding solutions here in Jamaica? Seems not.

I am, etc.,

MARK BROOKS

Malvern PO

St Elizabeth