Antonio James moulding the roots of young tomato plants on his farm in Ginger Ground, St. Elizabeth. - Photo by George Henry

George Henry, Gleaner Writer

MALVERN, St. Elizabeth:

FARMING FOR Antonio James is a family tradition, so it was no surprise when he gave up his job as a security guard to make his living from the soil.

Mr. James confessed that much of the skills employed in tilling the red earth in Ginger Ground, St. Elizabeth, were learned from older relatives.

"When I got into farming, my first crop was tomatoes. It was very good because I had a lot at the time of reaping," he told Farmers Weekly. "I love farming because I like to see the things grow, especially when I plant, and they are beautiful," Mr. James continued.

At age 51, the St. Elizabeth farmer views his work as a business. Though he has been in farming for only 10 years, Mr. James pointed out that a lot of hard work has been put into the dirt to make ends meet for him and his family.

Lack of rain

On just about one and a half acres of land, this is where the enthusiastic farmer has been producing tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucum-bers and sweet cassava.

However, like many farmers in St. Elizabeth, especially in the southern section, Mr. James' crops suffer from a lack of adequate rainfall. Luckily, a nearby tank is where he manages to sometimes fetch water to save his crops from dying during periods of drought.

Although he does not have a difficulty marketing what he grows, Mr. James could not avoid complaining about the problems he sometimes experiences with higglers, whom he lamented, were sometimes unreasonable.

"Sometimes they (higglers) come without money and they trust my things. They go to the market and come back saying that market was bad and do not want to pay," the humble farmer complained.