Organic farmer has model farm with the best crops in the village

HAVING relocated to Loo Creek, Soesdyke-Linden Highway a year ago, leaving a fully cultivated farm with his son, Ajay, meant Lakhan Budhan had to start from scratch. Despite challenges, he was able to achieve much at his new farm.

Budhan, better known as “Jah Man,” during a guided tour of his new farm told the Pepperpot Magazine that he achieved a lot during that time but can do even more, once he is equipped with the lease for the farmlands.

He explained that he will embark on drilling a well for water for his cultivation and he needs an excavator for much-needed drainage and irrigation works on the land.

Budhan’s farm is the last on that side of Loo Creek, and it is about six miles off the main highway and he is also the lone occupant on the land there too.

The farmer stated that a year ago, he had a vision and left his well-cultivated farm to his young son, Ajay. He then cleared the land at Loo Creek, where he began cultivating cash and permanent crops.

Due to limited land space for extended farming, Budhan left Long Creek to start a farm of his own.

He has been into farming for the past 20 years, has cleared 100 acres of land for farming, and is awaiting the lease for the plot to acquire a loan to get equipment and materials needed to upkeep his farm.

Budhan reported that among his crops, he plants Carolina reaper peppers, one of the hottest in the country. The pepper was grafted from seven varieties of hot peppers and is a “hot” seller.

He cultivates pear, papaya, tanya, cassava, citrus, eddoes, plantains, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and ginger, among his crops.

Budhan employs 14 persons from the village and its environs and soon, he plans to construct a suitable house for the workers who will live on the farm.

The farmer told the Pepperpot Magazine that he currently has 30 acres of well-cultivated crops and was able to achieve that in one year, from scratch.

Budhan added that he expended more than G$15M to start his farm, most of which went towards clearing and preparing the land.

He related that he is motivated because of his love for farming, and to be surrounded by trees and plants makes him very happy and he is all about ensuring adequate local food security.

“Agriculture is part of me, it is ingrained in my being, etched deep within and it is not something that happened overnight. I came from humble beginnings and I had the desire to farm and I persuaded [sic] that vision and it happened,” he said.

Budhan is very benevolent and he cannot turn away anyone in need and often, he would give his produce to the people in his community.

Budhan is originally from Coverden, East Bank Demerara. He relocated to Laluni, also on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway and later settled in Long Creek where he had a 150-acre model farm, one of the cleanest and well-cultivated.

At Budhan’s farm, it is indeed a paradise. The well-maintained grounds are appealing to the eyes and the place is huge.

He also has his house on his farm and resides with his wife and two sons, one of whom has his own farmhouse and assists him in selling the produce at the market.

“Next year, time like this, I would like to have 60 more acres of cultivation with 50 acres alone for coconuts alone and 10 acres of papaya, so I am working towards that,” Budhan said.

He explained that his papaya is a rare variety from Israel and one of the sweetest with little to no seeds. He admitted that when it first went to the market, people were hesitant to buy it.

Today, it would sell like hot cakes and Budhan is of the view that he needs 40 acres more of the fruit since the demand is great.

Budhan related that for him to have a high production level and to keep his farm viable, he needs a loan to boost his drainage and irrigation network, pump lines and an excavator for the swamp canals.

The farmer noted that he converted to Islam 15 years ago and since then everything has been in his favour.

Budhan is an organic farmer who uses chicken mould for his crops and at 70 years old, he eats whatever is grown on his farm, a diet of ground provisions and fruits.