Linden farmer talks about his love for the fields

“If you pay me a million dollars tomorrow, per month, to go and do any other job, you wouldn’t find me doing it, but as long as its farming, I’m there.”

By Utamu Belle

Farmer Yogeshwar Rambharrat seems like the average man next door, with his down-to-earth manner, but there is nothing average about what this typical son of the soil does for a living. For over 40 years, he has been a farmer, a job title which means much more to him than throwing or sticking seeds down into the soil and watching them grow, but for him, one that signifies strength, perseverance and prestige.
For centuries, farmers have embraced agriculture as a means of providing food, one of mankind’s main necessities and other services, for their families and the masses. From cattle rearing to crop cultivation, farmers have withstood the test of time, embracing agriculture like they are one in the same.
Rambharrhat, as he is often called by persons in the Linden community where he lives and manages two farms: one at Kara Kara, Mackenzie, the other, a one acre plot, located at Dalawa, Speightland, provides vegetables and fruits to persons in the community, who depend on these for their fresh, organic flavour, believed to be associated with local farming.
“Eh, Mr Rambharrat, you nah get any more of that ‘sweet’ boulanger I buy from you the other day? I tell you that boulanger sweet like you water it with sugar water,” an elderly woman inquired from him as soon as she entered the compound of the seedling nursery and farm supplies incubator he operates at Kara Kara.
“I couldn’t help but laugh at her amusement, and made a mental note to take home a bag of those ‘sweet’ boulangers on my next visit that the elderly woman spoke about, since that day’s supply were all gone by popular demand,” Rambharrhat said.

Aside from boulanger, Rambharrhat also grows and sells pak choi, peppers, sweet corn, bora, tomatoes, ochroes, cabbage, just to name a few. Being a man of versatility who does not settle for less, he also engages in the selling of chemicals such as insecticides and weedicides to farmers and gardeners within the mining town.
And that is not all, need technical advice on farming practices? Persons, including farmers, gardeners and schoolchildren who need help with their planting skills or agricultural science practicals or school based assessments would seek the help of Rambharrat, who happily helps them at no cost.
Giving back
A kind-natured man, he would occasionally offer visitors a gift from any of his two gardens, be it a bundle of pak-choi or some fresh tomatoes or lettuce, always with a sunny smile.
Settling into the interview, Rambharrat, who is 50 years old and has six children, explained how he was once a policeman, but opted to become a farmer, since it was embedded in him from a tender age by his parents who were farmers.
“My parents were into farming for a number of years, even after I had grown up and had acquired enough sense as I would say, and we all would have to help around with watering plants and such like.
“After we had grown up and could ‘pull our weight’ a lot better, myself, two sisters and five brothers, we started assisting in preparation of soil, but as we grew a little older, we didn’t want to do farming as a livelihood and so I decided that I was going to become a police.
“I spent eight years in the force, but then I returned to farming, after realising it wasn’t for me, and here I am farming up to now. If you pay me a million dollars tomorrow, per month, to go and do any other job, you wouldn’t find me doing it, but as long as its farming, I’m there.”
He explained that one of the greatest joys of farming is that it brings the family together, indicating that although a few of his children are adults, they still assist him in the caring of seedlings and other activities.
“Farming has a lot of rewards and it also gives you a lot of joy, it is one of the greatest gifts that God gave to man. That is the reason why myself and my wife generated between us, six children, that is the joy of life, the joy of planting is watching them grow and mature just like your children. So it’s a similar feeling that you get with having your children around.”
He attributes his genuine personality to the pleasures he finds in cultivating the land, which he believes, like most farmers, communicates with him, through plants.
According to Rambharrat, farming keeps him meaningfully occupied, and at the same time, helps him to be a better man.
“A lot of persons would go to the rum shops and the beer gardens, but I prefer not to go there because I have discovered that although alcohol is very good for curing certain illnesses, it should be taken in two shots: one is medicine and the other is knowledge; three shots if you’re drinking is going to put you in the drain, so no need for alcohol.
“My farmland gives me enough pleasure, especially when I see my crops blossom right before my very eyes,” he said with a hint of humour in his voice. In full support of the “Grow More Food” initiative in Guyana, Rambharrat encourages young persons to get involved in farming, whether it’s just a “little kitchen garden” or “just a small plot of land”, he noted, sharing a few tips on farming.
“From the seedling stage, you have to care your plant; you have to nurture and care it, just as how you would care a baby.
“When you take the seedlings out of the crate, they would go into ‘shock’ just like a baby that comes out of the mother’s womb, but you need to put it into the earth quickly, similar to when the baby would calm down after being placed to the mother’s breast.
“As the baby garners hope from the mother’s breast, it eases the shock and stress, it’s the same as the plants in the soil,” he related.
He indicated that another stress that plants encounter is that of global warming, but encourages farmers to “pay attention to the language of plants and provide for them with adequate, water, nutrients and good soil preparation”.