Gravel Hill is a rural farming community, situated in the Vere plains, in the South Western section of the parish of Clarendon about thirty (30) kilometres from the town of May Pen. The area is fairly hot and dry, receiving approximately five hundred (500) millimetres of rainfall per annum. The slope category is within the range of 0° to 15° and the soil type is mainly Rhymesbury clay, Four Paths loam and Four Paths clay loam. The temperature ranges from 30°C to 35° C.

Gravel Hill is predominantly a farming community of approximately fifteen hundred and twenty (1520) persons (Social Development Commission survey, 2005) who depends heavily on sugar cane and cash crops for income. The major crops grown in this area are fruit trees such as mango, ackee, coconut and apple; okra, hot and sweet peppers and, tomatoes.

The Gravel Hill currently has an irrigation system that was built and commissioned into service in 1972 to serve the water needs of farmers in Gravel Hill, the sugar cane farmers, in particular. The system uses a deep well pump to push water through canals and pipes to the individual holdings of farmers. The decline in sugar cane industry in Jamaica resulted in a reduction of sugar cane crop production in the 1080?s, however, the surface or flood method of irrigations continues. This causes the washing away (soil erosion) of the top soil and nutrients resulting in a number of environmental and socio-economic problems to the farming community. The farmers have to use more and more fertilizers and chemicals which are costly, but must be used to obtain a good enough harvest.

The overuse of chemicals by farmers has done more harm than good because the money earned from these crops cannot compensate for the damages to the environment. This is so as the chemicals leak into the water resources, wells and rivers in the community and is dangerous to the residents as well because due to the lack of potable water in the community residents use the irrigation water for drinking and other domestic purposes. Beneficial insects like bees are also harmed by the overuse of chemicals.

This farming practise exists over three decades and continues to negatively impact the environment and humans in the surrounding because the ?open ? farming allows for various forms of damage to crops including attacks by predators (people animal). Due to the fact that farmers cannot control the environment in which they plant, crops are susceptible to diseases and pests and therefore there is constant need for the use of more chemicals. Pests usually develop immunity to the insecticides the need for stronger, more harmful chemicals which pose even more ham to the degradation of the soil. This type of farming method is labour intensive and therefore additional costs to farmers, which further impacts on the economic viability of the farmers when so much has to be put in and crop production continues to be less fruitful.

While the Rural Water project, Under the Ministry of Water and Housing is seeking to address the potable water problem, no action has been taken to address the environmental problems caused by the method of farming.

The main goal of the project is to enhance the environmental health conditions of the farmers and by extension, the residents of gravel Hill by enabling the Gravel Hill Community Benevolent Society to address the problem of environmental degradation which results from soil erosion and community water resources contamination while reducing the risk of deaths or illnesses of the residents from the harmful effects of chemical use by farmers and increase farmers earnings from crop production.

This will be done through the use of landfill techniques to refill eroded areas and plant shrubs in the area s. The root systems of the shrubs are thick and able to hold the soil together. The project will also implementing green house technology to grow crops such as tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers to maturity in a controlled environment where there will be, less intrusion by insects and therefore allow for a reduction of chemical use to kill insects and pests which run off into the water shed area and pollute water resources (wells et.) in the area. A 150ft. x 30 ft. greenhouse will be constructed to facilitate the technology. The problem of soil erosion and water wastage due to bad farming practises will also be addressed because the green house method of farming utilizes drip irrigation instead of surface irrigation and it promotes conservation of water and reduction in soil erosion. With the use of green house the water flow to the land will be controlled as there will be guttering and trenches that will lead the water from rainfall towards the catchment area / storage tanks for harvesting for use in irrigation of the plants inside the greenhouse. So, rather than having heavy run off of rainfall that result in an increase soil erosion, this water will be properly channelled into the tanks as well as the Milk River watershed.
The overall expected outcome of the project is the reduction of the incidence of soil erosion and nutrient depletion that has negative impact on the community wealth and health. The project is also aimed at altering the current farming practices and methodologies to promote proper soil preservation and water conservation practices. In addition, the project site will be used as a training ground for demonstration in ?Environmental Management through agriculture? to students of schools in the Vere plains and May Pen area.