Linden Agri-entrepreneur making it easier for farmers with seedling production

By Naomi Marshall

Over the past two years, Agri-entrepreneur, Eron Alonzo has been making it easier for persons in Region 10 to start their own kitchen gardens through his business, Pro-Growth.

Pro-Growth is a plant nursery business which sells seedlings or mature plants that are ready for transplanting.

Plants offered by the commercial nursery include celery, lettuce, pak choi, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet pepper, hot pepper, okra, bora and eggplant among others.

Additionally, Pro-Growth offers agricultural consultancy and supplies including potting soil.

Twenty-five-year-old Alonzo grew up in Wisroc, Linden, in an extended family comprising of mainly entrepreneurs, farmers and agro-processors. Seeing his family working in the agriculture field motivated him take on the mantle.

Alonzo graduated from the Mackenzie High School in 2013 as a successful agri-student and subsequently attended the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA).

After graduating from GSA in 2015, he went on to the University of Guyana to further his studies in agriculture. In 2019, the young man emerged the holder of a Bachelor of Science (BSc Agriculture).

While being the holder of a Degree increases the chance of acquiring a job, it can still be struggle to actually acquire a job in Guyana. As such, the young man took the step to start his own business. Pro-Growth was launched in 2020.

“What motivated me to start my business was all the frustrations and agony that come with getting a job as a BSC holder in Guyana, it motivated me to think outside the box and be an entrepreneur,” he related.

Since launching his business in 2020, the agri-entreprenuer said that more and more persons are getting involved in gardening.

“When I first started there were people in the community with a genuine love for agriculture so they gravitated towards the business idea first. But as we go along persons who were being faced by challenges such as inflation and they started buying plants and farming,” Alonzo related.

The agriculturist indicated that while it may be a challenge to get the majority of Lindeners to farm, Pro-Growth will continue to promote agriculture in the town.

“For so many years we were stuck on doing bauxite and we are comfortable with having trucks and farmers coming from other regions and selling the products and carrying away all of the money out of Region 10. So adjusting our mentality to doing agriculture is sort of a challenge,” he explained.

Nevertheless, Alonzo said that it is important for persons to grow their own food, adding that it will benefit them economically.

“If you want to save money, farming is the best way to do so especially in this time of inflation. Grow your own food-get the plants, the fertilizers, limestone and other materials needed and put it down and you will see an economical benefit on your behalf from planting your own food and trying to be food secure,” posited.

For the past years, bauxite has been the main economic driving force for Linden, Region 10.

However, research has shown that agriculture is up to four times more effective than other sectors in reducing poverty, hence, encouraging agribusiness is vital both for agriculture and economic growth of Region 10.

According to Alonzo, Pro-Growth will be offering its products and services to other regions in Guyana in the future. Also, he plans to increase the variety of seedlings and mature plants offered as well as to have his very own decomposition farm.

Apart from farming, the young man enjoys playing pools and football, exercising and travelling.

He described himself as self-motivated, ambitious and aggressive when it comes to achieving his goals.  

Interested persons can contact the owner of Pro-Growth, Eron Alonzo on cell phone number 6385457 or via his email, eronalonzo1996@gmail.com .