Cohen
George Henry, Gleaner Writer
SPALDINGS, Clarendon:
LEONARD COHEN, 70, from Sanguinetti in North West Clarendon, has successfully continued the tradition of his late father Orlando, as a small farmer.
Mr. Cohen, who began farming at the age of 18, said that he became involved in farming when he left school, as he did not have a skill and not many other employment opportunities were available.
NO REGRETS
And, he has no regrets about choosing farming as a profession as, it has helped him to make a livelihood. "Out of farming, I have been able to build my own house, married a good wife and have been able to raise five children of my own, plus five others who are not really mine," said Mr. Cohen. He added that farming has, among other things, provided adequate revenue to fund his children's education.
The veteran farmer cultivates a variety of crops, including ginger, plantain, banana, coffee and yam. However, he said that since the reduction in demand for banana and coffee in the 1980s, he has been cultivating less of these crops and more yams on his seven-acre Sanguinetti property.
Mr. Cohen, affectionately called 'Brother Manny', said that over the years farming has become more difficult as labour has become expensive and the labourers themselves were sometimes scarce. Additionally, he said, agricultural inputs were very expensive and small farmers were unable to adjust to regular price increases. "Things like fertilisers and diathene are so expensive. Even the sticks for yam have become so expensive, and if you should plant a hundred hills of yam now it might cost you up to $600 for 100 bamboos," he said.
It costs between $20 and $25 for a labourer to prepare each yam hill before the tuber can be planted plus costs for fertiliser and chemicals during cultivation. "So by the time you sell the yam you don't get what you truly deserve in terms of price," said Mr. Cohen. He suggested that the Government provides subsidies for small farmers, and that more loans should be provided to encourage young people to practise farming.
Mr. Cohen has been married to Myrtle for almost 50 years and the union has produced five children: Patrick, Verona, Merrick, Paul and Joy.
