India: $15,000 worth of tomatoes stolen

An Indian Trail farmer who was last week robbed of over $15,000 worth of crops must now tell his children that they will not be getting new uniforms for the first day of school today. Ramnarace Sookoo was robbed of over 1,000 pounds of harvested tomatoes, worth up to $15,000 on the retail market, leaving him unable to provide much needed school supplies and other items for his family. Sookoo 41, said, even worse, he now faces possible economic ruin as praedial larceny has continued to plague farmers in his area, preventing them from earning a living or saving money.
Sookoo had harvested from his acre of tomato crops when he left the vegetables in his garden shed, on the land, and went further afield for a short time.

A former Caroni (1975) Ltd employee and a former cane farmer, Sookoo said he returned around 3.30 p.m. to find only a small pile of green tomatoes left.
Neighbours later told him they had seen a man leaving the area with a large sack slung over his back. "I went into vegetables after Caroni closed and we were not doing cane anymore,'' Sookoo told the Express. "But we cannot make a living when everything is being stolen every time''. Sookoo said the thieves are known in the area and even if they are caught by the police and made to serve time in jail, they return to stealing crops as soon as they are released. The farmer usually retails his crops at the Chaguanas market but is now at a loss as to how he will feed his family in the coming weeks. "I will have to make plenty sacrifices. The children were supposed to get new uniforms and a few things for school but they might not get that. I don't know if I will be able to buy more supplies for my crops but without the right chemicals, pests will destroy them''. Sookoo is calling on the authorities to assist farmers in that area before they are forced to give up their profession altogether.

Source: trinidadexpress.com