Young entrepreneur takes leap of faith in farming

Dissatisfied with her salary even after completing master’s degree classes in agricultural entrepreneurship in 2018, Grenadian La-Toya Roberts quit her job a month ago and decided to get her hands dirty in her own vegetable farm.

Roberts, who also holds a bachelor’s degree double major in biotechnology and sign language, has ploughed heart and soul into her one-acre plot in Change Hill district, Carron Hall.

But irrigation woes have made the leap of faith difficult for the young farmer, who cultivates cash crops such as pak choi, sweet potato, okra, and cucumber. She has also ventured into tomato and watermelon farming.

Born in St Andrew’s, Grenada, the University of the West Indies alumna said her love for agriculture propelled her take the plunge at the St Mary farm. She migrated to Jamaica in 2015.

“Having involved myself in the management of a farm recently, it proved to be an asset now that l have started my own farming project, as I realise the importance of training. Soon as I started to till the soil, I realised that it is a very challenging venture,” Roberts said in a Gleaner interview last week.

“I am pleased by this decision as I am here now using the knowledge gained, but I am being battered by the lack of water.”

Roberts has credited the extension officer deployed by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority for offering technical support and said that has helped her reap the rewards of best practices.

However, she is pleading for assistance with drip irrigation technology as her crops face the brunt of a meteorological drought that’s affecting much of the island.

“My daily task is to take water by hand in buckets to water each root. The only respite is when it rains,” Roberts said while watering cucumbers.

“There are days when it gets very difficult, but I am not afraid to weed, water, fork or sow the seeds.”

Efforts to seek comment from St Mary Western Member of Parliament Robert Montague and Port Maria Mayor Richard Creary were unsuccessful.

Agriculture has been one of the most resilient industries over the past three years, even during the economic meltdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

STATIN reported that value added for the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector grew by approximately 17 per cent for the period July to September 2022, the highest increase since the third quarter of 2021.

Those outcomes are likely to give succour to small farmers like Roberts, who said she is also encouraged by those who help her in the field.

“It is beaming with potential; just needs water,” she said.

A former audiometric technician at the Jamaica Association for the Deaf, Roberts decided that the income she earned from managing a St Mary farm up to a month ago was just not enough.

Though she is engrossed in her own farm, Roberts is still open to supplementary job opportunities. She has operated online swimsuit store Tibiiapparel for several years.

The love of farming is part of the legacy left behind by Roberts’ grandmother, who cultivated an acre of nutmeg and cocoa beans.

Roberts still has fond recollections of picking crops which helped finance her livelihood.

Now, the expatriate is determined to expand her landholding and maximise her own earning potential.

rasbert.turner@gleanerjm.com

How you can help

Anyone willing to donate water tanks and drip-irrigation technology may call La-Toya Roberts at 876-382-2636.