MOHAMED Abdul is a cash crop farmer and works as a security guard at nights to bring in an extra income in the home. He told the Pepperpot Magazine that he picked by hand 54 pounds of ochro from his farm and received only $800.

The 57 year-old added that when it rains heavily, which is often, his farm would be flooded and his crops destroyed and that is the main reason he had to get another job. He disclosed that the private security company he works for did not pay them for three months, and presently he is relying on the crops in season to earn “a dollar” for the home.

“The wholesale people would come and pay you a mere $40 per pound for ochro and you cannot make a profit from that, so how we living,”? he said. Abdul also stated that the tap in their home is just dripping and they do not get water during the morning period and the pressure is very low, yet they have to pay their water bill.

Large-scale farming
Meanwhile, the team also met Dharm Seegobin, a large- scale farmer of cash crops, whose farm is partly flooded. He told the Pepperpot Magazine that he has been farming since 1980 and it is not a ‘fast cash’ kind of job and has five acres of farmland, two of which are his tomatoes cultivation and the rest he has a combination of cabbage, peppers, boulangers and ochroes.

The 56-year-old pointed out that with the increase in prices for food items such as milk and cooking oil among others, are worrying and they would have to exit the village and travel for miles to buy groceries.

The father of five added that it would add up to about $2,500 weekly to send his children to school outside the village, since they do not have a secondary school. “We need good roads, look at this place condition, we living like hogs here with all this mud and landline phones, with street lights because it is dark here at nights and reliable water supply and better bridges,” he said.

Seegobin reported that they would get water until after lunch daily and that is not satisfactory.

Throwing paddy for a living
The Pepperpot Magazine also met Sudesh Benimidha, a 29 year-old, who throws paddy for a living. He works with a rice farmer and is the father of four.

The people of Yakusari Village

The young man reported that he and two others would wake up at 01:00hrs and begin their work in the rice field and it is a four-day task of throwing paddy. He added that after three months they would cut the rice, but the throwing of paddy is a tedious task that requires some form of knowledge and he has been doing that for years.

Benimidha stated that for the four-day work he would earn $3,500 and would work with other rice farmers doing the same kind of work when it is available.