Large-scale farmer for 37 years shares his experience

AS a farmer, Carlos Baker says it takes a lot of time and investment to sustain his farm and maintain his livelihood, resulting in a bountiful and successful crop. Baker has been a cash-crop farmer for the past 37 years, and hails from Huntley, Mahaicony, on the East Coast of Demerara. Despite some challenges, he enjoys his lifelong profession.

The father of four reported that he cultivates a five-acre plot of land in the backlands of the community, and often works alone, or has his son assist him, since reliable workers are hard to come by.

The farmer told the Pepperpot Magazine that he cultivates crops of cabbage, both sweet and hot peppers, boulanger, and watermelon among other crops, and would sell his produce to wholesale buyers in bulk.

In addition, he has recently set up a roadside stall to sell his produce and ground provisions to locals in the community at a very pocket-friendly price to offset the burden of cost-of-living increases.

CHALLENGES

Baker explained that farming is time-consuming, and often he suffers losses when his crops are destroyed by saltwater that enters his farm due to drainage issues that aren’t properly managed. He lost 15,000 roots of cabbage and 4,000 sweet pepper plants, all bought from a nursery to cultivate on his farm.

Baker related that he was only given half a bag of fertiliser as compensation by the authorities, with no real assistance to help him recover.

He added that if it weren’t for the loans he took from the bank, he would not be able to replant crops after the devastating incidents of saltwater saturating his farm and destroying all his crops.

Baker stated that people need to take responsibility for their actions, and whenever he sought assistance from the relevant authorities, he would receive the runaround and eventually have to give up due to the costs and time involved.

The farmer reported that saltwater incidents have been occurring for years, and he believes it is time for a ranger to be employed to make reports and conduct spot checks to ensure the water pumps are manned, and regular monitoring takes place to secure the integrity of his crops.

Baker noted that there are approximately ten cash-crop farmers in Huntley, Mahaicony, and most of them receive little to no support from the authorities, who often visit to take photos for social media posts.

He explained that when his crops are destroyed, he still has to find money to pay off his bank loans, and it is difficult to catch a break, or even make a small profit to sustain himself.

Presently, he is harvesting boulanger, cabbage, and peppers, and he is very happy that his crops were saved this time around so he can sell his produce before it perishes.

Baker reported that he has ordered 12,000 cabbage seedlings from the nursery to replant after this harvest, and he is hoping for a fruitful outcome in future crops too.

The farmer said farming is a ‘give and take’ kind of business where you plant hoping to reap, and sometimes there is nothing to harvest, and money goes down the drain without any real compensation to stay afloat.

Baker pointed out that due to his years of experience as a farmer, he is familiar with the various pests and diseases that consume crops, and he has measures in place to prevent any occurrences. Over the years, he has invested time in doing his own research to maintain healthy, pest-free crops.

He revealed that they had a viable crop of wiri wiri peppers for export, employing 37 women from the community to pick the peppers—but things were quashed after some time due to circumstances beyond his control.

As a farmer, he told Pepperpot Magazine, it is an everyday job—from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., then from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.—with no days off, and it requires a lot of manual labour and time to tend to crops as a large-scale farmer.

Baker said help is always welcomed, but the young men in the village don’t want to work and would often decline employment when there is a bountiful harvest, so he would do it along with his son.

At the Baker farm, he utilises a sprinkler system to water his crops, which he invented to make his workload easier and more systematic.v