In his waterfront shop on the Pomeroon River, Rudolph Gobin and a friend take a drink and argue over the prices of farm produce and the weather.
Rains over the previous week saw water flooding parts of their land but not to the extent experienced in the past. The discussion is a familiar one at farms along the Pomeroon as many farmers lament low prices, the lack of markets and labour, and flooding. Several are no longer cultivating the crops they used to or the acreage under cultivation has decreased or they have switched their focus to coconuts. But, despite their disenchantment, their attachment to the land is deep and for many, it is their only means of earning a living.
Many of the farmers are advanced in age and as prices drop, they have turned to other crops or just look after what they have.
Just over a year ago when Stabroek News last visited Gobin’s farm at Lord Robert Grant, he was battling birds and other pests that were damaging the heavily-laden fruit trees. Prices were low, the markets were limited and labour was scarce.
Last week, the 69-year-old man said the situation remained the same. “Me stop planting, me just try foh maintain what me gat,” he said. He pointed to rotting oranges that had fallen from his trees indicating that there was no market for the fruit and prices were low as well. “We doing ordinary selling but the price ain right,” he said. “The market price can’t maintain the farm and the family.” Gobin has opened a shop to supplement his income and has planted avocado which are about to bear for the first time. Prices for avocadoes are better than other crops.
He is also focusing on coffee and the tiny berries are ready for picking. Some have already fallen. “We geh coffee, endless coffee but no workman,” said Gobin. “This bush thing hambug everybody now.” Because of the gold rush in the interior, many young persons are heading into the hinterland resulting in a scarcity of labour, he explained, adding that youths do not want to go into farming. “Me gah land me can plant… but me nah geh workman,” he added.
Gobin said he has not benefited from the Grow More Food campaign initiated by former minister of agriculture, Robert Persaud. “Dem a squeeze farmer back too much man,” he stated. He said that the New Guyana Marketing Corporation office at Charity is non-functional. “They have a board showing the price but if you go to ask who in charge, nobody nah answer you.”
Another farmer, S Hardyal of Burn Bush said farming can pay but there needed to be buyers who can take off the produce. He is focusing on coconuts because of the ready market and the price. “Me study foh go back into coconut farming,” Gobin said. They called for the authorities to look into the operations of the GMC office at Charity. “Is a government (entity) and they got to cater for the poor. If they continue at this rate, the poor gon always be suffering,” said Gobin.
In Grant Macedonia, Martindale, Parsram Persaud called ‘Indal’ said he has stopped cultivating a 32-acre field. There is still no markets for crops like cassava, he said, recalling that the huge amount that he planted over a year ago are still in the field because the markets that were promised by the GMC never materialized.
Currently, he said, because many of the crops are not in season, the prices have risen but disease and flooding have affected his crops. Persaud said he stopped planting some crops like banana and plantains which were severely affected by the “dry leaf” disease. “Me had to close off from dem dat because it ah create more expense and you nah get nothing,” he said. He also faces a problem with labour. “You nah get labourer, then you nah get market for the produce, how you gon get money foh pay them,” he said. For now, Persaud is concentrating on his coconuts.
“Nothing much a change in this place. Nearly everything deh the same way,” said David Cozier at his Playfair field. Like Persaud, he now concentrates on coconuts though the lack of labour is also a problem. This situation, he said, results in thick bushes growing around the coconuts since there is no one to weed them. Some of the plants die, he said. “You willing to plant them back but you can’t plant in the bush and it aint get nobody fuh cut the bush,” he said. He said his other crops like oranges have died and while there are still some, these are for family use rather than for sale. Cozier also runs a shop to supplement his income but said sales are minimal since there are many shops across the Pomeroon.
“We survive by the grace of the good Lord,” said Wendell Daniels of Unity. He planted citrus, coconuts, pumpkin, banana and plantain among other crops. Oranges, he said “sell for next to nothing” and this cannot pay. He said the Grow More Food campaign has not benefited farmers in any major way. “Sometimes we plant pumpkin, most of the pumpkin left to spoil.” He said what is needed in the Pomeroon is a place that would buy the produce from the farmers. He said at one point, he sold to exporters but this is not happening now. “You grow it but half left in the backdam. You ain get no market,” said Daniels. “If 20 farmers reach at Charity market and each got 20 bunch of banana, half of them gon bring it back.
“We really need markets. Every farmer crying out. If you go to Charity on a Monday, farmer in a corner, gold man in a corner. They farmers always crying.”
Labour is another problem, Daniels said. For the few workers available “you got to provide house for them and all these things” he said adding though that it was better to get three or four days work than none at all.
In addition, he said, drainage is a key issue for farmers. Daniels was in charge of one of the excavators that were purchased for use by Pomeroon farmers in 2006 and while they did work, break-downs as well as the scarcity of spare parts for the brand of machine contributed to their down-time, he said. He said that 31,000 rods were cleared from 2006 to 2009 but a lot of the time was spent servicing the machines. He said that in 2009 the regional administration took over the machines and they were parked in the compound at Anna Regina since. Farmers need the machines, he said.
Farmers also need rights to their land, he said, while explaining that some farmers do not have documents. He said that they have been after the authorities on this issue but have seen no progress thus far. He noted that if a farmer wants to get a loan, the bank would require documents for the land.
In Jacklow, Olive Goocharan said that agriculture ministry officials have not visited them. “They don’t come to the Jacklow area when they come,” she said. In Siriki, James Smith said the “dry leaf” was still affecting his plantain and bananas. He said because it was not harvesting time, the produce is in demand and some vendors even went to his home to buy and so he has no trouble selling. “If the disease nah de affect we, we woulda gat endless plantain and banana,” he said. “We trying with the farming. We like the work. The [produce] selling but when it really come plenty on the market, then the price go down.”
His son was also a farmer but was discouraged after the disease affected his crops and he went into the goldfields, Smith disclosed.
Meantime, Smith too is still awaiting the transport for his land after a number of years. “Me went one time and they tell me nah foh go no more because everything deh in process,” he recounted. “They seh everybody got TV and they gon put it on TV.” Smith said he plans on expanding his farm since it is his means of earning a livelihood.
Daniels said that currently there are no farmers below the age of 40 in the Pomeroon. Several of the farmers lamented that there will be no one to take over from them. But some also expressed the opinion that if conditions improve, there could be a turnaround in the fortunes of those cultivating the land. “This farming is a bundle of worries but if things put in place it could work,” said Daniels.
