Bundles of broccoli are to be saved from the scrapheap, Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson said on Friday.

That's because a broken-down refrigeration unit at the Government marketing centre would be back on line within six weeks, Mr. Hodgson announced.

And he hinted new frozen facilities could soon be built to allow farmers to keep crops longer.

Bermuda's farmers had been forced to dump huge stocks of broccoli when a roof caved in over one of the seven Prospect cooling units.

Last month, farmer Roland Hill had to dump 2,000 pounds of broccoli -- worth around $2,500 -- at his Astwood Park, Warwick farm, because there was nowhere to stock the vegetables.

And he warned $20,000 worth of Bermuda broccoli could be abandoned because of the fridge fiasco.

But Mr. Hodgson told the House of Assembly that Budget funds had been freed up to pay for the marketing centre repairs.

The Minister added: "The unit is scheduled to be back on line within six weeks. All other six cold storage rooms are functioning normally.'' But he said the out-of-action refrigeration unit was not the only reason for farmers abandoning their broccoli.

One dumped the crop rather than cut his price, he said in a Ministerial statement. And he said farmers worried about a storage shortage should contact the Department of Planning to pinpoint "appropriate locations'' where refrigerated containers could be installed.

"I can confirm that the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Board of Agriculture are well aware of the problems the industry is experiencing,'' Mr. Hodgson said.

"They are actively working on a number of initiatives to provide an alternate cold storage site and temporary storage until such time as the repairs at the marketing centre are completed. "We are also looking into the possibility of farmers freezing excess crops generally to ensure a longer shelf life.''