Essequibo farmer shrugs off...

to afford their livestock more elaborate grazing. Indiscriminate grazing does not work to the advantage of the vegetable crops.

As is the case at the municipal markets in Georgetown vegetable prices on the Essequibo Coast have been ‘pushed to the floor.’ Tomato and cabbage are currently being traded at $100.00 per pound. Hot peppers can be had at $140.00 per pound. Ramsaroop understands that if he is to endure the pressure of low prices he must increase his production levels…… …..so that, these days, he has available for sale somewhere between 200 and 300 pounds of tomato. With available land beyond his two-acre plot being difficult to come by, the optional approach to increasing yield is enhancing eafficiency.

Accordingly, his focus is on qualitative improvement by seeking out the best available technical support. The high quality of what he produces, he says, can be attributed largely to the support of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute. (NAREI). Experiences of low yield and sub-standard produce have been put behind Ramsaroop on account of interventions by NAREI. One such intervention, he recalls, involved adding limestone to the soil, a pursuit that significantly increased yield.

Over time, he says, sustained interaction with NAREI’s Extension Officers have exposed him to new, more efficient farming techniques which he says have proven to be more effective. Over time he has significantly reduced the labour intensive nature of his farm having pressed into service a tractor, a tiller and a water-sprinkling system. Technology implemented to execute the mundane tasks on the farm means that Ramsaroop has more time to spend on the minutiae…like crop inspection and disease detection. The level of efficiency in his operation has meant that even what can sometimes be the tricky task of transporting produce to market is usually ‘a breeze.’

If the uncertainties associated with the future of the rice industry do not appear to have shaken the faith of Essequibo rice farmers in the likelihood of the emergence of new markets, Hanoman Ramsaroop provides an example of the prospects that repose in the pursuit of viable options.