Downed banana trees at the St. Mary Banana Estate. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

While it is too early to determine the extent of the loss suffered by the island's agricultural sector, following the passage of Hurricane Dean, farmers will need substantial aid to recover.

Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Norman Grant, president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), said a preliminary assessment shows that the sector has been hit hard.

Reports are that banana fields in St. Mary and Portland have been ravaged, while cane fields in St. Thomas and St. Catherine suffered significant damage.

Additionally, many housewives across the country who grow cash crops for a living have complained of losing their stock.

"From livestock to traditional tree crops to the non-traditional, (including) the coffee crop that had looked absolutely brilliant, but with the type of wind it might have suffered reasonable to substantial losses," Grant said.

The JAS president said that because many roads remain blocked, the organisation was unable to access rural farmers to provide detailed information of the sector's loss.

He noted that the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Rural Agricultural Development Authority and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management will within a week's time provide a correct estimate of the hurricane damage to the agricultural sector.