Ranjan Pandey brings both dedication and a calm presence to his role as Cultivation Lead at ANTG’s Armidale facility. Originally from Nepal, he joined ANTG two years ago and quickly became a key part of the team. Outside of work, Ranjan enjoys a relaxed life in Armidale with his wife, exploring local spots and looking forward to welcoming their parents for their first visit to Australia, hopefully before Christmas.
Ranjan, what’s a typical day look like for you?
I come in and check the plants and go through the whole room and see what is going on with them. Temperature and irrigation are the two critical factors. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to check everything and see if the plants are looking good or not, or if something is missing. It depends where we are up to in the cycle. Right now we are at week four, so the only thing left is to see if everything is going okay. Collaboration is pretty good and everyone is kind here. The company thinks about us a lot, and in turn we think of them. It kind of feels like a big family working together.
How do you describe the job to others?
I say we are growing medicines. It’s a big medicinal product farm where we grow cannabis.
What about others who want a job at the facility. What do you tell them?
The first thing is to be cheerful, compassionate and mindful of what you are doing. Some knowledge is useful, but it’s difficult to find people who have worked with medicinal cannabis before. The process is mostly unfamiliar to many candidates, so we really focus on training. Lots of people who have worked here for a period of time share their experience with one another. This keeps things moving. It’s really easy to ask others about the things we don’t know, and that makes it easier.
I first came from Nepal, where growing cannabis is not a big thing. I had an interest in the medicinal part. These discussions helped me a lot. I joined the company two years ago, and the experience and knowledge helped me get to the position where I am now. My first crop as a Cultivation Lead was the 100th crop in May this year. I learned a lot from that harvest and it was a great one. Everyone helped me get through it. Collaboration and consistency is the key to success.
The best thing about the gig?
Seeing the product that we grow go to someone who needs it, and knowing that it helps them.
And what about the challenges?
A recent one was when we changed from three-week to two-week cycles in one aspect of our processes. It was a bit of a challenge to overcome, but we managed it together. We really put our heads together across the departments to see how we could make it work. The team culture helps so much.
Any favourite local hangouts?
Occasionally we hang out with staff after work – maybe down at the pub, but mostly I hang out with my wife at home. She is studying a Masters in Agriculture at UNE – and also works at ANTG.
Words to live by?
I have two favourite quotes:
“This too shall pass.” And this one I saw in a movie once: “The past is history, the future is a mystery, today is a gift and that’s why it’s called the present.” So I try to be in the present as much as I can.
