Jul 6, 2021
Farmers Get Assistance in the Valley of Peace
Over the past two years, flooding and drought have ravaged vegetable fields in the Valley of Peace. Less than a year ago, the country’s largest cabbage producers lost hundreds of thousands of heads of cabbage to floods leaving them struggling to make ends meet. At the time, the Valley of Peace Farmers Association appealed to the government for help for them to keep planting. Well, G.O.B. is now offering assistance to thirty-one farmers through the Resilient Rural Belize Program’s Matching Grant Fund. On Monday, government officials and the Valley of Peace farmers signed an agreement for the construction of a climate resilient office and climate smart seedling nursery, packing and storage center with equipment and irrigation equipment. The agreement also provides for technical assistance and capacity building to help them improve the management and marketing of their operations.
Jan 25, 2021
Valley of Peace Farmers Blame Valley of Peace Farms Ltd. for Damaged Crops
Tensions between the Valley of Peace Farmers Association and Valley of Peace Farms Limited got high last week. The farmers are blaming the company for damaging their crops. Chairman of the Association, Ever Blandon, says that Valley of Peace Farms Limited carried out aerial spraying, using chemicals that eventually killed their crops. Manager of Valley of Peace Farms Limited Gilbert Canton Junior says it wasn’t them. Canton Junior did say that the company conducted aerial spraying but one and a half-mile away from the farmers’ crops. Today, we got both sides of the story.
Jan 25, 2021
No Peace in Valley of Peace; Cane Fields Set Ablaze!
But the tensions got higher over the weekend when two separate parcels of cane fields belonging to Valley of Peace Farms Limited were set on fire. Less than ten acres of cane field were set ablaze on Saturday, and another large field was set on fire on Saturday. Investigators believe it was arson, and today we caught up with Manager Gilbert Canton Junior at the Roaring Creek Police Station, where he asked for an investigation to be done. But the farmers are certain that the investigation won’t lead to them because they had nothing to do with it. Chairman of the Association, Ever Blandon, says that his farmers are all about keeping the peace.