Ducu’s journey started amidst great difficulty: the money he had was anything but sufficient
to buy seeds, open up land for cultivation and pay labour costs. He was only able to kick off
with less than an acre on which he farmed tomatoes, cabbages and onions.

’’Financing of the farming activities was a problem since I had no way of getting money to buy the seedlings,” he says, his face showing the stretch and strain that comes with unpleasant reminiscence. “Sometimes transport and labour for cultivation were a problem
too.”