In the light of the ongoing drought, the Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA) says that the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/Agricultural Develop-ment Authority (MMA/ADA) is taking the wrong approach in regulating water.
General Secretary of the GRPA Dharamkumar Seeraj said the measures instituted by the MMA/ADA were not working because the authority did not seek the involvement of the GRPA and the farmers before putting the measures in place.
Stabroek News has been closely following the drought and its effects on rice farmers in the Mahaica and Mahaicony areas.
Because of the limited amount of water flowing in the canals, all farmers were forced to use external pumps to water their lands. However, this was counterproductive as there wasn’t enough water to supply all of the farmers.
As the demand for water increased, some farmers selfishly blocked the canals disrupting the flow of water to farmers who were farther away. The MMA and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) then warned that anyone caught tampering with the irrigation systems would face the possibility of prosecution and being fined. However, the farmers closer to the source continued to selfishly pump the water and the MMA responded by dividing the farmlands into five blocks. Manager of the MMA Aubrey Charles had told Stabroek News that each block would be allowed to pump water from the canal for two days, with Block 1 (the farms farthest away) getting water for the first two days.
Some farmers ignored the schedule, siphoning off water on the days allotted to others. The MMA was slow to respond to pleas from the suffering farmers for stronger actions against those refusing to adhere to the timetable. Stabroek News was told on Friday that the MMA had blocked one of the canals to allow the water to build up before letting it flow down to the long-suffering farmers.
Susankar, a farmer, said, “They de block the canal and it was building up but when we had to get water now we only get three hours because the same thing just keep happening. When we pump, everybody pumping.”
Seeraj said the farmers are losing the confidence in the authorities since they have failed to properly address the issue, and this was why farmers were taking matters into their own hands. “You cannot just impose anything even if it is the right thing,” Seeraj said. “They need to do more community work. They need to involve the farmers and the rice producers’ association,” he added, pointing out that the MMA, since the issues arose with the rice farmers, had not yet contacted the GRPA for assistance.
“You need to go and make a proposal then you have to discuss it with everyone and even if there are 50 persons and 10 disagree then you have to show them how it is going to affect them and everyone in a positive way,” he said, stating that while most farmers usually care about themselves and their own crops, they need to be shown the light. “You just can’t go and implement something without briefing the farmers and seeking their support,” he added.
Meanwhile, with farmers having to expend gallons of diesel because of the additional pumping of water, Seeraj said the GRPA has recommended a temporary lifting of the tax on the fuel. “All the farmers are encountering difficulties and we had recommended that at least they temporary remove the taxes on diesel for the industry. It’s not open ended, you know. It would’ve been some around one million gallons for the 230,000 acres that were expected to have been planted,” he said, adding that for the 180,000 acres that were planted, it would’ve only been around 850,000 gallons of diesel that would’ve been tax free. “We knew farmers would have had to pump and you know fuel on the tax is very high and if all the taxes are removed then the cost would’ve been just over 1/3 what it is now,” he added.
While rice farmers around the entire country are facing difficulties with the lack of water, Seeraj said it is expected that all of the rice in Leguan will be lost. “In some areas it is not so bad but there has been some loss of rice in most regions except four,” he said, stating that the most affected areas are the right bank of the Mahaica River and the left back of the Abary River. He added that Leguan, Wakenaam, Crabwood Creek, and the front lands of Region Six and Region Two are all also “hard-pressed.”
