Ravindra Singh of Bilalevu in Sigatoka had so many reasons to smile today as he was given a tractor worth $75,000 by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The 44-year-old farmer says he was just in class four when he dropped out of school to help his father in farming as he was asthmatic.
Singh says he is now supporting nine people in his family including his wife and four children.
He adds he normally earns around $4,000 a week by selling his vegetables and tobacco to middlemen from Taveuni, Savusavu, Suva, Nausori, Ba and Navua.
Singh says the new tractor will help him with his monthly repayments.
He believes this will also improve his total yield in a year.
Singh says that he had applied to the Ministry for Agriculture for assistance in purchasing a new tractor and the Ministry responded by making him pay just one-third of the total cost.
Singh owns 18 acres of farm land at Yawa, Sigatoka and 8 acres in Bilalevu.
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