FARMERS in the Sigatoka Valley are predicting a shortage in the supply of some vegetables because of the protracted dry spell.
Nabitu farmer Davendra Singh said farmers who could not survive without State assistance should not be considered as farmers.
“Vegetables like English and Chinese cabbages are not in season so we won’t find a lot of it in the market and they will be expensive. The in-season vegetables are long bean, tomatoes, eggplants and cow peas but even these are in short supply. Some farmers have started replanting but they are planting a lot less right now because the soil is too dry,” he said.
Vijay Narayan Sharma of Barava said farmers were having a hard time planting.
He said consumers should expect vegetables to be in short supply over the next few months.
“I am just replanting but I will harvest a lot less vegetables compared with last year,” he said.
English cabbage is priced between $3 and $5 each while the Chinese cabbage sells for $2 a bundle. A bundle of long bean can fetch up to $3.50, depending on supply.
“We are given what we need to survive this dry weather but some farmers are not doing the work they should be doing and they just wait for Government to help them.
“We have irrigation for our farms and there are water pumps for farmers who are far away from the river so people can’t say they are not getting water for their farms. We have some farmers who complain about not getting their supply of seeds but they should be able to cultivate their own seeds.”
