Farming styles

The Slash and burn method of agriculture is the culture of farming in the Canje River. Obviously this type of farming method used for growing food in the Canje River, was handed down to the residents there from their ancestors who adopted it from the early slave plantations that existed there. It is the most self-sustaining way of independently providing food for the residents along the river.

Farmers would scout out what they consider rich and fertile lands in the wild Amazonian forest, and then under-bush or as the local people would say: “cruda” the identified area using the cutlass, also known as the machete. Once the smaller trees and under growth are chopped down, the larger trees are fell and chopped up, then left to dry by the sun for about three to five weeks, depending on what time of year the clearing of the land is done. The next step in the farm preparation process, is to burn the area. Once burned, the ash provides the cleared land with a layer of rich nutrients that help to fertilize crops. 

However, this slash and burn method is a more nomadic way of farming, as the land is only fertile for a couple of years before the nutrients are used up. Farmers must now abandon the area and move to a new plot—clearing more forest again. The abandoned area is known in the Canje as the “Caporie”. Depending on the crops that were planted there, for example, like the Banana, Sugar Cane, or Eddoes or Dasheens, or Pineapple, one can go back to the “Caporie” for a number of years and still reap from the remnants that would survive the overgrowth of the bushes.  

However, the slash and burn method of agriculture has its setbacks. For instance, the recent rains experienced in Guyana, significantly affects the farmers in the Canje, as they are unable to prepare new farms due to the continuous rain falls, and not having adequate sun to dry the newly cut farms so they can be burnt for planting. 

Meanwhile, the farmers enjoy planting a variety of cash crops, such as Plaintains and Bananas, Cassava, Eddoes, Dasheens, Peas, in particular the read peas known in the area as Vita Peas, or the Minica 4 peas, Pumpkins, Sweet Potatoes, Yams. For permanent crops, meaning crops that will produce at a sustainable rate for many years, they would farm Oranges, Mangoes, Pineapples, Coconuts and other permanent crops.