Marcina "Pat" Mottley with some of the fruits of her labour on display at last weekend's BMEX at Sherbourne.

by MELISSA ROLLOCK

MARCINA "PAT" MOTTLEY is a daughter of the soil.

Her whole life she has lived off the land, toiling to feed and support her family.

It is all she has known growing up with a farmer for a father. Naturally, when the time came to make a career choice, she chose farming.

Despite the ups and downs in agriculture, Marcina has stuck to it, running a vegetable and chicken farm in Sherbourne, St John, growing everything from thyme, chives, sweet peppers and cassava to bora beans, spinach, tomatoes and beets.

"It hasn't been easy, especially with the monkeys – not only the ones with tails but the two-foot monkeys too. We have a big problem with praedial larceny; sometimes we lose a whole crop because of it. But, it is my livelihood, so I have to stick with it. I can't stop. I have a love for it," she told the WEEKEND NATION.

Marcina has led from out front and by so doing, has inspired her three sons who all want to pursue careers in agriculture – including her 11-year-old who sat the Common Entrance Examination on Tuesday.

Her husband, however, has chosen to work outside of farming; so the farm the couple bought 20 years ago,is Marcina's sole responsibility.

"We started with vegetables, then chickens. The next thing we want to get into is keeping pigs," she shared.

She is part of a local group called Women In Agriculture made up of about 15 members, and that is part of the Caribbean Network of Rural Women Producers, also known as CANROP.

"There are a lot of women in agriculture but people don't recognise us. Sometimes they only see the men out in front, but even then the women are behind pushing the men.

"[Women In Agriculture] provides a network of support for its members. I do a lot of the vegetables and the eggs and another lady, Olga, does pigs, pepper sauce and a lot of agro-processing. Another member Onita does seasoning; Deborah Gill, the president of the group, does jams and jellies.

"We help each other out. For example, I would supply Onita with the chives for her seasoning and if I want something, someone else would supply me," explained Marcina.

Her son Alvin is already on the path to a career in agriculture. He studied it in Venezuela at the Simon Bolivar United World College of Agriculture and recently registered his own business – Border Green Agro-Products – which will supply vegetables, ornamental plants and seedlings when it is fully up and running.

"I wanted to become a chef, but then I realised the value of farming; not just from the economical standpoint, but also from the view that everything we need comes from the land," he said.

His biggest obstacle, however, is obtaining the capital to get his business fully operational.

"I told myself I didn't want to work for anyone; but I may have to do that to build up the capital base for the business. One of my dreams is to go the UWI [University of the West Indies], St Augustine Campus to do a major in agro-business and agriculture so I can become an agriculture consultant. I would be able to help anyone who is interested in agriculture and don't know anything about it. I would be able to assist them and do it as a service," said Alvin.

Marcina is proud of her son and believes more young people should get into agriculture especially now with the high cost of living and rising international food prices.

She told the WEEKEND NATION she was shocked when at this year's Agrofest in Queen's Park, some of the children who visited her stall did not recognise certain fruits and vegetables.

"The problem is that their parents buy everything from supermarkets. Even a simple golden apple, a child would come and ask you, 'What is that?' I was taken aback; the children didn't even recognise local fruit like guavas.

"You see everybody living in the heights, terraces and housing developments, and some parents don't grow anything. Furthermore, some tell their children, 'Oh, that is nothing for you to do'. They prefer their children
to go in an office and sit down. That is not how I was raised and that is not how I raised my children," Marcina stated passionately.

* melissawickham@nationnews.com