By Subhana Shiwmangal
Farmers in the Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara are experiencing challenges with their rice crop owing to the dry season and an infiltration of saltwater into the irrigation system.
Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said he met with the farmers on December 16, and implemented a number of measures, one being to provide a bowser and irrigation water for the crops.
“Right now, the problem is the water shortage to supply the rice field. I’m not getting the water and the rice is almost due [in 30 days] that need fertilizers and due to the water supply, we cannot use the fertilizer,” Gaganand Singh, a 35-year-old farmer of Wash Clothes Village told the Sunday Stabroek on Friday.
He relayed that this has been a problem since the first week in November and that the minister visited farmers of the Mahaicony Creek on December 16 and promised them water within a week’s time. However, a week has gone by and the farmers have not received the water as promised.
Singh explained that he has been a rice farmer for the past 8 years and this is the first time he’s experiencing this problem. He also pointed out that due to the lack of water, his rice production has decreased. Also, to add to his woes, saltwater is present in the irrigation trenches. He noted that when it combines with the freshwater in the system, it gets to the rice field. “Some of the rice would get red and die,” he said.
He explained that the salt water gets into the system because there isn’t sufficient fresh water in the creek. “When the koker at Hyde Park, Mahaicony, opens and brings in the sweet [fresh] water in the trenches, the salt water reach the koker, the salt water will eventually get into the trenches [irrigation system].”
He added that the salt water then gets trapped in the trenches that farmers pump water from onto their crops. Singh recalled seeing this happen several years ago when he was not yet a farmer, where the koker was blocked off by the government to help with the saltwater intrusion.
He had emphasized that as of Friday, three quarters of the farmers in the area had not received any water from the government.
The farmer said that the trenches have mud because no water was coming in from the Mahaicony River. He acknowledged that the government was trying to do something as he was informed by a Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary (MMA/ADA) Agricultural Development Authority representative to give it another week, as the water will be here soon.
“I think the government is trying their best to help with the farmers’ woes but in the first place the government should let farmers know not to plant the amount of rice they planting since there is a situation like this, but they told us to plant and farmers are planting and now the amount of sweetwater is not in the system to supply the rice field,” he lamented. “So far, the rice production is like 20 percent down from 100 percent because of the lack of water and we don’t know if we are going to get water for probably a next day. We badly need the water. I have 50 acres of rice paddy.”
Singh noted that the abnormally long period of dry weather influences the lack of water.
Another farmer of Wash Clothes, Lallchan Deokissoon repeated the same woes with saltwater infiltration. He explained that the pump from the canal is working but the water is not reaching the trench so he can’t supply his rice field. This, he said, has to do with the dry weather. Deokissoon said that he too heard that a representative from MMA had stated that the government is currently working to correct the problem. He noted that so far, an excavator has dug the canal but the farmers don’t know if that would help the situation until later on.
He explained that the water level had fallen in the river and the pump had to stop for three days because it was bringing up saltwater.
The farmer noted that this problem has been happening for the past two weeks and now it has worsened. He said that he has 150 acres of land under rice cultivation.
Deokissoon said that last Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) was pumping water further in the creek so farmers in the area can get water, but he’s not sure if a specific period will be given as to when he can get water as that decision has not yet been made.
Deokissoon is urging the MoA or the ADA authority to put a pump schedule in place so that everyone can benefit equally from the badly needed water
“Most people’s production are at stake,” he said, “We can’t use fertilizers if we don’t have water.”
Meanwhile, Mustapha told the Sunday Stabroek on Friday, “I placed pumps in different locations. I have machine working right now to clear the canal and the situation has improved tremendously from last week to now, and that whole operation that I have started last week will continue, because of the dry weather and El Niño condition, we have to now modify the system to get proper water. … I have started that since last week Saturday…”
When asked about supplying water to the farmers, Mustapha replied: “I had raised this matter with the President and he had instructed that I look into the situation and provide a water tank to each home in the community when the rain falls, also the farmers can have water.
“The water tanks are not important right now, but what is important is to ensure that they have the water in the area for which I had promised the browser and also the irrigation water for the crops.”
He also stated that right now, both banks of the Mahaicony River are getting water.
In relation to the saltwater, the minister said, “They have to continue to pump the salt water out because when the tide falls, normally you would get a shorter drainage period. Now the water is ‘cutting’, that’s the common name they call it. The water is coming less high than before, like a week ago. So, we will have more time to pump out the water, so the salt will get out.”
