Retinella Edwards loves working the land

Retinella Edwards, 42, is one of the few female farmers making headway in what is considered to be a male-dominated sector.

The back-breaking work and long hours have only motivated her to continue.

Edwards grew up in rural Manchester in the community of Resource. She is one of 10 children to her parents.

"Our parents were very poor so it was so rough. That's the reason why we were not so well educated. Many of the other ones didn't finish school," she said.

As a child, Edwards saw her mother doing farming, and at around age 28, she picked up the mantle. First, she did it alongside her husband until she started doing it on her own.

She usually leaves home as early as 5:30 or 6 in the mornings and heads home around 4 p.m. Sometimes she stays near her farm in a little hut.

"I mostly used to plant gungo at first, and then from there I used to plant like tomato, sweet pepper and pumpkin," she said. "Because I'm used to it for so long, I continue to do it and I wasn't well educated in school so I just do it for a living."

Edwards, who is a mother of six, said farming has helped her provide for her family as she also sells her produce at the Coronation Market in Kingston.

Like any job, farming has its challenges. While Edwards has never been a victim of theft, she lamented that the drought conditions have affected her badly.

She said she has incurred losses and has to pay around $2,000 each time she needs water for her farm.

"Around last month I was there reaping tomato and the price was so cheap. So sometimes you can't even find back the fertiliser money," she said.

She also recounted that on a number of occasions at the Coronation Market she has had to take cover from flying bullets.

"You know when gunshots firing you have to hide, like hide under a stall," she said.

But in spite of the various challenges, she would encourage other women to venture into farming as "it pays".

"I'm still going to continue. I won't give up," Edwards said.