Gladwin Thomas is changing the game

AS THE global demand for coconut products such as coconut water and virgin coconut oil increases, a 33-year-old farmer operating out of Kuru Kururu – a village on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway – is looking to take a plunge into the industry.

For the past 10 years, Gladwin Thomas has been supplying the local market primarily with eddoes from his two farms at Kuru Kururu measuring 10 acres in total.

“I have a small team I work with. We plant the eddoes, and supply them to the ‘middleman.’ They buy the eddoes at the wholesale price, and take it to the market where it is sold to vendors at wholesale and retail prices,” Thomas told the Pepperpot Magazine in a recent interview.

The wholesalers travel from various parts of Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) to Kuru Kururu to uplift the produce.

SWITCHING IT UP

Thomas supplies eddoes on a weekly basis, and while he has basically secured his market, the married father of three is looking to capitalise on the growing Banana and Coconut Industries. Currently, he plants bananas and coconuts for domestic purposes.
“I am planning to expand more on the coconut and bananas not so much eddoes. The demand for eddoes is there but the competition is great,” Thomas said.

He pointed out that there is a higher demand for coconut and its byproducts when compared to eddoes. Already he has applied for additional land. He is hoping to secure an additional 20 acres of land.

Guyana’s coconut products are gaining more and more recognition on the regional and international markets, and the Government, through the Agriculture Ministry, is upping its collaboration with farmers across the country to further improve the industry.

GROWTH IN THE COCONUT INDUSTRY
According to a survey conducted by the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), there are over 1,454 coconut farmers in Guyana. NAREI had reported that while the industry comprises a large number of estates, small farmers make up a significant proportion of the industry, primarily in Pomeroon, Wakenaam and on the East Coast of Demerara.

Coconuts continue to be Guyana’s major non-traditional export; exports which amount to some US$5M annually.

However, Thomas was not always into farming. He had served in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) but after three years, he resigned for financial and family reasons.
“I was unable to completely meet the needs of the family because the finance was just not enough, so I decided to farm because we had the land,” he explained. Today, he has no regrets.

FAMILY TIME
“I’ve grown to love farming but not only that, I get to spend more time with my family, instead of going out to a seven to seven or seven to four job, based on the fact that the farm is close to our home, it is working out very good for us,” the farmer said.
When school is out and his daughters are at home, Thomas also takes the opportunity to pass on the tradition by teaching them a few farming techniques on the family farm which is loaded with soursop, papaya, banana, cherry, pear and coconut trees just to name a few.