By Michel Outridge

SARITA Persaud has a small business which is based at her home in Parika Back, East Bank Essequibo, where she provides a reliable service to the community.

She has a photocopying and printing service because she has internet service at her home and also sells ice and icicles as a side ‘hustle’; being a housewife, she has the time to manage both.

Persaud explained that she grew up with her granny and had moved out of the village for some time, but returned and is there to stay.

The mother of two added that mostly schoolchildren would visit to have their school projects done and she would assist.

However, both of her her children go to school outside the village and are at the secondary level.

Persaud told the team she also upkeeps a small kitchen garden of karila, squash, bora and mainly seasonings which are used for her own kitchen.

“I am contented with my life here, I have no neighbours and no one to bother me and I do what I have to make myself happy,” she said.

The Pepperpot Magazine also spoke to Dilip Kumar, a resident of Kent Dam, a section of Parika Back and he is a farmer; his crops are on the verge of going to waste because of pests and the current dry spell.

He explained that right now the price for pak choi is $10 per root and as a cash crop farmer, they are not making profits.

Aback his yard, he has a few acres of cucumber, bora, pak choi, tomatoes, pepper and boulanger, most of which are very dry owing to the fact they don’t benefit from potable water and the current dry season is taking a toll on the crops.

“Up to this morning I got up early and went backdam to see if I can source water from the canal which is almost dry, just to water the crops, because the sun is very hot, plus I have to buy a lot of chemicals for the pests that are attacking my crops,” he said.

Kumar stated that within recent times he has seen an increase of pests on his crops and in addition, he has to buy limestone and chicken manure to prepare the soil for a good yield.

“I does use the limestone to absorb the sour soil and the fowl manure is also good for a proper soil composition for the crops,” he said.

Kumar pointed out that Kent Dam is about one mile long and aback of that there is a land co-op where farmers, who reside outside the village, have crops.

He has six acres of crops and the pepper leaves are curling due to insects and the lack of water and he has one person in his employ, who works three days per week because he can’t afford to employ more people.

Kumar said they have wholesale buyers, who would come to their house for the produce and they would be paid on Saturdays and most times they don’t really profit.

“My parents were farmers and I grew up as a farmer’s son and I got used to it and I am a farmer today, a job I have had for the past 35 years,” he said.

Kumar, 50, is originally from Stewartville, West Coast Demerara, but grew up in Kent Dam.

He is a father of two and welcomes a change of weather for the sake of his dry crops.