Still going strong at 80

Submitted by TemoL on Wed, 24/02/2010 - 2:46pm

By: Nacanieli Takele, Ministries of Primary Industries

He began farming when he left school in 1944 and 66 years down the line 80 years old Sainivalati Naqele of Vanuakula village in Ra is still regarded as the best farmer in the district.

“I left school in 1944 when I was 14 years old and began farming in 1945 and 46. I did not look for any white collar or blue collar job as I concentrated only on farming because I believed at the time that it was calling at the time,” recalled Mr Naqele as he stood beside his two storey concrete house that seems to dominate the scenery .

“In those days, the major crops grown in this area were yaqona and banana. Banana was a major export crop then and it was grown mainly in the Central Division and parts of the Western Division”.

“Some people say life is tough nowadays, I cannot imagine how they would have fared in those days when there were no roads and the only way to get our produce to the market was by horseback to the main road or to raft then down the river”.

Vanuakula village is about six miles from the King’s Road “as the crow flies and about 14 kilometres by road from the Burenitu junction past the Dobuilevu Research Station on your way to Rakiraki. Beyond Vanuakula village is the village of Nasukamai which is on the Naitasiri/Ra border.

While most of the land belonging to the village of Vanuakula looked rugged and hilly, they have some very fertile flat lands along the Lawaki River delta. It is on one of these flat land that the spritely Naqele farms.

“Money from yaqona and banana had enabled me to pay for the education of two of my children; one is now an ordained Minister and the other a teacher”.

“I did that through the “sweat of my brows” through hard work and perseverance”, says a determined Mr Naqele whose looks belie his age.

In those days when transportation was a huge problem, Mr Naqele said he had to rely mainly on yaqona and banana to earn a living and pay for his children’s education.

“We used to raft bananas down the Lawaki River that runs beside my farm, then to the Wainibuka River to Rokovuaka where they are packed and transported to Suva.”

“Yaqona is carried on horseback to the main road which is about six miles from here where we catch the bus or a lorry to Rakiraki where the yaqona are sold”.

“To live that life, one has to be tough”.

Those days are gone now as his village is now accessible by road and Mr Naqele prefers the quieter life of farming the flats around his two-storey house.
Also in his twilight years, he had found a crop that is more to his liking than dalo, yaqona or banana.

His new love is ginger, a crop that is foreign to the province but slowly getting more attention from surrounding villages because it has a ready market.

Mr Naqele is one of the 10 farmers from the village who are growing the crop for the Natural Foods Company.

“I have been planting ginger for the past three years after I managed to get a quota to plant and supply ginger from a man named Manasa from Maumi Village. Manasa gave his ginger quota to his uncle in this village and that was how I started planting ginger.

Ginger is a new crop to the people of Vanuakula who are used to growing yaqona, banana and dalo for the local markets.

We have had no prior experience or formal training in growing the crop. What we had done so far was all through trial and error and through the advice from our locality field officer Taniela Navuku.

It is true that this is a new crop to us and from my limited experience; it seems to be better than yaqona which takes at least 3 – 5 years to mature and banana which takes over 9 months to harvest.

This crop only takes 5 months to mature. In my last harvest, I managed to gross about $1,100.00.”

Mr Naqele said ginger, like any other crop, requires good management and daily monitoring to ensure that they are growing well.

“Two months after planting, the crop should be hilled up to ensure good corm sizes and quality at harvest. It is also very important to keep the crop weed free by constantly weeding the crop after every two to three weeks.

It is also very important to keep the farm drains weed and silt free so that the farm is not waterlogged during heavy rains as this will affect the size and quality of the corm.

“At my age it is easier for me to grow ginger as it takes only 5 months to mature. If I plant yaqona now, I don’t know if I will be still around to harvest the crop” he said with a wry laugh.

"My advice to youths today is to seriously think of government programmes that are currently being implemented to assist rural dwellers to earn a decent living from the land.

"There are quick cash crops that can help you to earn good quick money and one of these crops is ginger. Dalo Yaqona and Bananas are long term crops as they take a while to mature before they are harvested and sold.

"You plant ginger in September and by February the next year, it is ready for harvest and when you have a ready market to take your produce - that is sure money in your pocket”.

Mr Naqele said that ginger can be hardy crop as well.

“We were hit recently by Cyclone Mick that severely affected our dalo and banana plantations.
“It had no effect on our ginger plantation because they are shorter plants and you can see that they are coming up very nicely for next month’s harvest”.

From the money that he earned from ginger, Mr Naqele hired the services of the village to construct two fish ponds close to his house. His intention is clear and that is to make his farm a one-stop-shop for his dietary needs. Root crops, vegetables and fish – all fresh from the farm.

Permanent Secretary for Agriculture Mr Mason Smith who visited Naqele and the ginger farmers of Vanuakula this week was encouraged with what he saw and emphasised that his Department will work together with the farmers on their ginger projects.

“The Department staff will run a farmer training for you on how to grow export quality ginger and also assist you with farm inputs and I would like to emphasise that, in every government assistance to farmers, there is also a farmers’ contribution.”

“I would also like to emphasise the need to have visionary leaders who see and plan ahead for the betterment of the farmers and the village.

"You are requesting for poultry manure for your farms and say that the nearest poultry farm is in Ba. Then what is to stop you from having your own poultry farms as you can build the shed using local timber and assistance from my Department.

"You have a lot of flatlands that you can cultivate to increase your return from the land. You can start planning now on buying a tractor for land preparation.

With horses and bullocks, it will take you about a day to plough an acre of land that would take a tractor only half an hour to complete the job.
The Department of Agriculture can also assist you in that respect through the one third farmer contribution and two thirds government contribution.”

Mr Smith said it was important for the farmers to start looking at farming as a business as start treating it as business.

“You must remember that not all the money that you earn from farming should be luxury items and a family party after the harvest. Some of that money should be saved in a bank account, some for education, and some for family needs while some are reinvested back to the farm”.

“Through the training that my Department will run with you, we will also have officers who will train you on the basics of running a farm as a business”.

“I am confident that when I return to your village in three years time, you will have a thriving ginger farming business that is at the centre of your village development projects”.