Ravi Doobay is one of several farmers who have come from various parts of the country to settle on farmlands at Laluni. Most of them came here at the invitation of the Demerara Tobacco Company to plant tobacco to feed the company’s production process. With the loss of the tobacco market the farmers turned to cash crops with Doobay and his family cultivating an assortment of vegetables including sweet peppers, hot peppers, boulanger and a variety of fruit, including cherries.
Other farmers cultivate cherries too, their market being the nearby Demerara Distillers Ltd. manufacturers of the popular TOPCO fruit juice brand. Cherries, Doobay says, can be a profitable investment for fruit farmers. A five-gallon pail of the fruit can fetch between $1,500 and $2,000 on a
