Farming is in his blood – Stanger farmer receives Guinea Fowl award

His forward-thinking farming methods and dedication to keeping it sustainable saw this local farmer win the Guinea Fowl award presented by the Darnall Environment Committee recently.

Marlen Pillay has deep roots on his farm set outside Stanger bordering the Mvoti River and said farming was in his blood.

“I am a third generation farmer. My grandfather, Muthu Konar came from India as an indented Indian and served his indentureship at Mount Edgecombe.

“He then went to Tinley Manor and later to the tea and coffee plantations at Kearsney. After their indenture they could buy land or go back to India. Grandfather bought the land,” said the 40-year-old Pillay, who took over the farm after his dad had a heart attack in 1999.

Also read: Farming with spirit on the North Coast

“I had studied horticulture and landscaping technology at DUT and worked at the Jungle Nursery in Durban when I heard about my dad. I had to leave what I was doing and go back to the farm to help as I am the only son and he needed time to recover.”

He quickly got back into the lifestyle and starting making some changes to make the farm more sustainable and profitable.

“Cane farming is not feasible for us due to our location and high transport costs to the mill. I expanded on my dad’s existing vegetable farming specialising in Indian market vegetables such as brinjal, calabash and Indian herbs.

“Now we supply a lot of our veggies to Johannesburg and we are one of the biggest growers of runner beans or serm,” said Pillay, who still runs a landscaping company on the side.

Pillay has also managed to buy the neighbouring farm and thanks to Tongaat Hulett putting him on a planting scheme, he now also grows more sugar cane which goes to the Darnall mill.

His farm was nominated along with other small scale farms for the Hoopoe and Guinea Fowl Awards which is given based on good environmental practices.

“The committee inspected the farm’s water ways, drainage system, infrastructure and how your farming practices impact the environment.”

This award is one of many he hopes to win as he has further plans to expand and improve the farm despite threats such as climate change, increasing fuel costs and land claims.

“As a young farmer you have to be positive, enthusiastic and look for an opportunity when the world is at war. You cannot farm when you are negative, as you are working with seeds and growth.”

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