Take farming as a business advises Lauders resident

In a matter of months female farmer, Agnetta Robertson will be celebrating her 70th birthday.

Veteran farmer, Agnetta Robertson

However, age does not stop her from going to the lands every day to provide food for herself, and her family.

Robertson was among a group of farmers who attended a workshop at the San Souci Community Centre on Thursday, June 9.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT Robertson said, “You see me, I does use cutlass like a man.”

The Lauders resident does farming with her husband and other family members.

Apart from planting root crops and vegetables, she also rears poultry, pigs, sheep and goats.

“Is years now I am in the land, my mother was a single parent and she died when I was just nine years old.

“From very young, I used to always help out in the land”, she said.

“As a little girl, I used to have to carry pen manure for the chives and other crops in the land,” Robertson recalled.

She was born and raised in Lowmans Windward and attended the primary school in that village.

Sadly, her schooling ended when her mother died.

“It was a real struggle,” the mother of five stated, as she reflected on her past.

Robertson is however thankful that she had developed a love for the land in her formative years, and this is what has helped her to succeed in life.

Thankfully, the lands she cultivates are just a short distance away from her home.

Each day, from around 6:00 a.m, she is already on the farm watering, weeding, panting, cutting, feeding animals, or whatever else needs to be done.

“I have five children and 10 grandchildren and we all farm together, and I am not afraid of the work.”

Apart from being able to “use cutlass like a man”, the 69 year old woman still digs her own yam banks and makes her own chive beds.

“I feel fit and if the work is there, I can do it,”Robertson said with a smile.

“I am in the land every day, morning and evening.

“Farming helped me to send my children to school and to build my house,”she pointed out.

While it has brought her many benefits, farming is not always a bed of roses for Robertson.

“It have plenty thief, and sometimes after working hard, people steal your crops or your animals.

“They thief anything, breadfruit, yam, coconuts, sheep, goats, basically anything they can put their hands on.”

Additionally, from time to time she has to contend with the problem of dogs attacking and killing her livestock, especially her sheep.

This situation is both hurtful and discouraging, but Robertson’s love for the land propels her to work even harder.

“I love farming bad, and I got my husband involved in it too.

Over the years, I have learnt to take farming as a business,” she noted.

“And that is my advice to anybody who wants to get into farming, you must take it as a business and also you must love working in the land.”

While many young people shun farming, Robertson is convinced that farming is the way to go, especially in these times when food security is under threat.

With the price of food skyrocketing all across the globe, Robertson is encouraging her fellow Vincentians to “get back to the land.”

“Once you have a little back yard, dig a hole and plant something.

“Plant some tomatoes or cucumber, you will reap one day.”

Despite the challenges she faces with thieves and dogs killing her animals, Agnetta Robertson is not about to give up on her farming and does not regret taking up this occupation.

“I have no regrets, none at all,” she said with a smile.