Story and photos by Dhanash Ramroop
As rice farmers struggle to cope with an extremely dry season, the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA) and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) have been forced to monitor the farmers’ use of the limited water.
Stabroek News was made to understand that over the past week, several farmers in the Mahaica and Mahaicony areas tampered with the drainage system in order to secure water.
“We all know what is happening, we all know that the dry season bad, bad and they ain’t got water but you can’t block up the drain for yourself and then don’t even care about the others,” Ricky Singh, one of the rice farmers from Mahaica told Stabroek News yesterday. He explained that some of the farmers were blocking the channels from flowing so that they would have an abundance of water buildup around their land to use when they needed it. “Some of them fail to realize that is all of us in this thing and the dry weather affecting all of us and not just them so we all need some water.” He stated that the issue was brought to the attention of the MMA-ADA which took swift action in addressing the problem.
When Stabroek News visited the areas there weren’t any obstructions affecting the flow of the channels but the level of the water was low.
Many farmers were forced to use external pumps to get water on their lands. However, Stabroek News was told by a source from the MMA-ADA that it would be counterproductive if all of the farmers used their pumps simultaneously and as such, a team would be sent around the areas to monitor the farmers’ usage of water and to implement a priority method. “The farmers are not cooperating. One guy is gonna say that his rice is more important than another and he’s going to try to do something,” the source said.
“It’s like a bucket of water getting water from a pipe and everyone dipping out of it. Eventually it’s going to finish and it won’t full back in time for everyone to take out of it again,” he said, stating that because of this the authority decided to allow the farmers who need the water the most to be able to pump first.
While the dry season is affecting the entire MMA area, Stabroek News was made to understand that the Abary and Mahaicony areas were not affected as badly as Mahaica. Abary and its surrounding area receive water through the Abary conservancy.
“Even though [the Abary Conservancy] is low right now, we have enough to supply the farmers with within the Berbice and Abary block,” the source said, stating that through precise conservation of the water, they were able to keep it at an adequate level that would be enough to supply the farmers until the end of their crops. He added that the MMA-ADA has placed staff around the area to ensure that water is not being wasted and no one is tampering with the channels for their personal gain.
Mahaicony and Mahaica both receive water from the rivers and as such have not been getting an adequate amount of fresh water. “The salt in the rivers moved higher because there is no rain falling in the interior [to allow] the black [fresh] water [to] come down,” he said. Because of the lack of the rain due to the dry weather, the salt content of the water has increased and as such, farmers cannot use the water. The source said the MMA-ADA has already put several plans in place to try to tackle the issue. “We are trying to rehabilitate old drains in the Mahaicony block so we can go further up and access water from new sources and bring down to the farmers to use,” he added.
While the Abary Conservancy has enough for the region it supplies water to, he told Stabroek News that he is unsure whether the Mahaicony and Mahaica area farmers’ crops would be able to survive on the amount of water available at present. “I am not sure and we can never be sure and we can only hope for the best,” he said, stating that hundreds of farmers are set to lose their crops if they are not able to get the water to them.
The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday issued a call to all farmers countrywide to desist from tampering with any water related drainage and irrigational structures through a press release. It went on to state that the external tampering would result in the situation worsening due to the severe El Nino weather condition. “As it stands, water supply levels are low and many farmers are affected. These conditions are expected to continue throughout the first quarter of the year,” the statement said.
It went on to say that the NDIA and MMA-ADA are aware of the effects of the dry weather and are working assiduously to help the farmers with their irrigation needs. It added that persons who were found tampering with the structures would be prosecuted and would be responsible for repairing and replacing the structures. The public is asked to report any instances to any of the agencies.
Meanwhile, the source said while he believes that only rainfall can directly help the farmers right now, long-term measures can be put in place to prevent the farmers from suffering from the dry season again. “There’s a big project that is being conceptualized for years that is called the MMA phase two which is to extend the conservancy dam,” he stated, pointing out that if the project is ever to bear fruit it would see the conservancy dam expanded to the Mahaica River that will trap rainfall at the back. “Obviously if we have a bigger dam then we have more water to distribute,” he added, stating that the dam would also be able to channel water to the Mahaicony and Mahaica areas, easing the pressure on the farmers from relying heavily on the river itself. He also said that phase two would see the construction of more main canals and regulators. “Phase two would be aimed at reducing flooding and reducing irrigation and it can be done with the plans we have,” he added.
When asked whether it would be a feasible option to utilize the reverse osmosis process and treat the salt water for usage, he said that it was a plausible option but would be too costly. “I’ve seen it firsthand being done in the Middle Eastern countries but it would be a very big project and expensive and wouldn’t be economical,” he said.
While the weather has not been sparing any farmers, majority of them are not placing the blame on anyone and said they have their hands clasped together praying for the rain to come.
“Who we going to blame, brother? They don’t have water and if they don’t have water then they can’t give us water,” Shahid Jameer, a rice farmer who has been farming all his life, told Stabroek News yesterday. He said that while this is the worst dry season he has ever witnessed he is able to get water from the Abary Conservancy by pumping. “I expect it to last for all the farmers in the Abary area until the crops finish but if it don’t then I gon lose nuff money,” he added.
Another farmer who recently started his crop was seen transporting his pump to his farmlands. “All my life I can’t remember facing such a bad season and I just start so I gotto hope I get enough water to make it through the cycle or all gone and is about $500,000 I gon lose,” he said.
“Look we know is nah nobody fault but everybody gotto look out for them self too. Nobody want to make a loss cause is nuff people does lose. Right now I just praying and hoping that the rain fall soon so,” one farmer said.
