Oral Lewis’ Journey from a Small Hanover Farm to National Honour

Growing up, Oral Lewis had the unique advantage of attending a secondary school directly opposite the Knockalva Agricultural School in Ramble, Hanover, where he closely observed the agricultural learning taking place there.

At home, he and his six siblings worked the land with his father.

It was that front-row seat to the world of farming, at an early age, that cultivated his admiration and love for the discipline, inspiring him to pursue a lifelong career in the sector.

For his dedicated work, spanning more than 30 years, the businessman and extension officer was presented with the Badge of Honour for Meritorious Service in the field of Agriculture, at the National Honours and Awards Ceremony held at King’s House on National Heroes Day, October 19.

Mr. Lewis, who is the owner of Lewiscotch Nursery and Seeds in St. Mary, is the Coordinator of Extension Services at the Banana Board where he manages technical support and education programmes to help banana and plantain farmers increase production and control crop diseases.

In an interview with JIS News, the Justice of the Peace (JP), husband and father, says that his upbringing was largely surrounded by agriculture, as his father, a painter by profession, also did small-scale farming.

“Most of the time, the farming operation was what was most evident and so we, as children, had to be involved in all the operations in terms of rearing of chickens, goats and cattle. He did a lot of yams and dasheens and so on as well,” he notes.

Mr. Lewis says the farm activities were “very laborious” but appreciated how the operation helped to ensure food security for the family.

“We didn’t buy most of those items at the shop. It was just mainly what we call the meat kind,” he points out.

The activities at the Knockalva Agricultural School fascinated him greatly as he explains that “most weekends we would go there to purchase milk and so, I would see the operations of what happened there with the students and that inspired me”.

“That gave me some kind of an energy and desire to go across someday to this agricultural institution,” Mr. Lewis adds.

His dream came true as he went on to attend the school (now the Knockalva Polytechnic College) before enrolling at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) in Passley Gardens, Portland, in 1986.

In 1988, he joined the Bodles Research Station as a Research Assistant in the Entomology Department with a focus on Apiculture.

He spent one year there before attending the University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine campus in Trinidad in 1989, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in General Agriculture.

He entered the banana industry in 1992 where he spent five years in farm management and one year in procurement at St. Mary Banana Estates.

“I basically term that experience ‘my university experience away from university’. That’s where learning really began for me because there I put a lot of things into practise – not just theoretical knowledge that we gained from university. I was really inspired by the experiences there from my colleagues and from workers and from all the different activities that took place,” Mr. Lewis tells JIS News.

It was during those years at St. Mary Banana Estates that the idea to start a business arose.

He began producing Scotch bonnet peppers but explains that a “major disappointment” led him to restructuring the operation to the current business model.

“We brought the peppers to the export market but it was said that they were stale. So, we attempted to extract the seeds and prepare them into small packs. They were requested by an individual in St. Thomas, and the rest is history as they say,” Mr. Lewis relates.

A wide range of other seeds came along the way – red pepper, callaloo, cabbage, pak choi, onion, scallion, thyme and a host of others.

Over the years, Lewiscotch Nursery and Seeds has supported the growth of backyard gardening and commercial crop production by making a wide range of quality seeds and seedlings available to Jamaicans.

In addition to the nursery in Highgate, Lewiscotch seeds are found in most farm stores and agricultural outlets across Jamaica in small packets designed for backyard farming.

The entrepreneur believes that by Jamaicans growing their own food, they can become self-sustainable and enable the country to achieve food security.

“It’s really a way of persons empowering themselves so that they could reduce their costs at the market. It comes with a sense of enjoyment for persons… [and] a sense of satisfaction, getting fresh produce. They also know exactly what chemicals are applied or they can manage their own operation and to know that this product is also safe,” he points out.

At the Banana Board, where he has been enjoying an 18-year career, Mr. Lewis also manages national initiatives like the Plantain Pilot Project and represents the Board at events, including the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, the St. Mary Agri-Expo and others.

He contributes to agricultural education, through guest lectures and practical sessions at CASE and other institutions.

Mr. Lewis tells JIS News that the passage of Hurricane Melissa a year ago was a significant moment in his career, noting that the storm caused “close to a total wipeout that affected farmers across the country”.

“As far as banana is concerned, it was 100 per cent damage right across the board and what that meant is that we had to work closely with our farmers to get the industry back to where it was as quickly as possible,” he points out.

For farmers who registered with the Banana Industry Catastrophe Fund, the Board worked with them to ensure they got their benefits as quickly as possible “which was within one month”.

“We worked closely with the Government to distribute that $100 million programme [from which] we got fertiliser assistance for farmers across the island. We worked closely with RADA (the Rural Agricultural Development Authority) parish offices, which sent in all the names of the [farmers] who had damage – the per cent damage and the area damaged,” he states.

He adds that “we worked out a formula for the amount of assistance by way of either bags of fertiliser or in some cases the farmers would have received vouchers that they took to the farm stores for the implementation to be more practical and more convenient”.

He points out that the industry saw “fairly good recovery”, even while navigating drought this year.

The dedicated agriculturalist tells JIS News that he has found passion in his profession, as he appreciates and knows the struggles of farmers and works assiduously to see them thrive.

“They would have identified with my upbringing and with my father, who was from a poor background but was a hard worker. He was someone who was not at the highest level of education but someone who understood that farming was critical for livelihood and critical for sustenance. So, when I see farmers out there, I see my dad in a lot of them and it has caused me to want to work closer with them, to take them from one level to the next,” Mr. Lewis tells JIS News.

He describes banana as a ‘winning crop’.

“Some of the farmers, they say to you, ‘if you take care of the banana, the banana will take care of you’. They know that this is a [produce] that every single week they can be selling something from it,” he says.

“I’ve seen farmers who have stepped back a bit from the banana because of the frustration from hurricane and so on and have tried ginger and dasheen, and they come right back to banana because banana is just a winner,” he points out, noting that the one advantage of cultivating banana is that the inputs are not costly.

Turning to his national honour, Mr. Lewis tells JIS News that he is proud to be recognised for his lifetime of service in the field that he loves.

“I know that I’ve been putting out some work, not for an award, but of course, I was very elated to know that whatever I was doing it caught the attention of the powers that be. And so, for that, I am eternally grateful. It has brought me a great sense of fulfilment to achieve such an award,” he says.

Kenroy Vassell, a Lewiscotch Nursery and Seeds customer for about five years, tells JIS News that he has been able to “save a few bucks in my pocket by doing my little front-yard gardening” with seeds purchased from the business.

He says he has successfully planted cucumber, sweet pepper, lettuce, tomato, scallion, thyme, hot pepper, and more.

“It’s organic. You can decide what you put on the plants and how you grow it and you will benefit more health-wise. It was just today I went to the market and the cost of lettuce was $1,800 per pound. I can remember last year – the entire year – I did not purchase any lettuce, I was able to reap all of that from my garden being supplied by this [nursery] here,” Mr. Vassel says.

He tells JIS News that Mr. Lewis deserves the national award.

“He is a beacon in this community. It’s not just with the farm but his personality and his service to the community as a JP as well. He’s approachable and he’s kind-hearted. You can speak with him and he’s very knowledgeable,” he says.

Mr. Vassel adds that, “his experience in agriculture not only benefits this community but we know, nationally, the service that he has offered to Jamaica and the many lives that he has touched with his education and with the skills that he has”.