The Ministry of Agriculture’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has taken remedial action after it discovered salt water contaminating the water supply of Good Faith, Mahaicony farmers and will be monitoring the situation periodically, NDIA head Lionel Wordsworth said.
“The water quality in some section reports showed saline so we went up and pumped it out and will continuously monitor the situation,” Wordsworth told the Stabroek News when asked for an update on Friday.
He noted that following reports by this newspaper about complaints from 23-year-old cash crop farmer Anil Bharrat about infiltration of salt water in the irrigation system and its effects on crops, the Ministry of Agriculture deployed engineers to the area to investigate as promised and they remedied the situation.
Wordsworth said that farmers were told that there will be periodic checks and if they had further complaints, to make them known and his agency will take action.
When Stabroek News visited the area last month, Bharrat had lamented that his family was suffering from the effects of salt water from the Atlantic Ocean seeping into the Mahaicony Creek which is used to irrigate crops.
“There are a lot of cash crop farmers in Mahaicony that does not have anything to help with the salt water that seeps in the irrigation system and kill the crops. The government do not give us anything permanently to help with our crops,” he lamented. “Our mouth is white for Christmas because of the same salt water. Other farmers can testify to this. Nobody don’t come in the village and they don’t look into anything. I took a lot of loans and I lost about one point something million worth in cash crops, due to the salt water contamination and sometimes we, farmers, do not get water to water the crops. When we do get water, everything gone.
“We reported the problem many times to a representative from the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute but still NAREI never tell us anything. A guy who takes all the complaints to the higher authority on these issues affecting farmers on behalf of us, said he did report the matter a lot of time to the authority. But still, the authorities have not found a permanent solution for the problem.”
Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha was contacted and he told this newspaper that he was not aware of the issue but found it strange as Wordsworth lives not far away from the community and would visit farmers regularly, and that he would look into it. It was he who had referred this newspaper to Wordsworth.
In December last year, Stabroek News had reported that farmers in Mahaicony were experiencing challenges with their rice crop owing to the dry season and salt water. Mustapha had met with the farmers earlier in December, 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 had complained. He related that this had 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, the week passed and the farmers did not get the water as promised.
Singh had explained that he had been a rice farmer for the past 8 years and this was the first time he was experiencing this problem. He also pointed out that due to the lack of water, his rice yield had decreased. And to add to his woes, salt water was 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 saltwater 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 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 salt water intrusion.
In early January last year, the Guyana Rice Development Board had been directed to conduct salinity tests four times daily to monitor salt levels in the Mahaicony Creek, as the Agriculture Minister assured farmers that relief would be provided to ensure the continuous output of rice in the region. Additionally, he announced that construction on the new canals would commence in the first quarter of this year, aiming to address drought-like conditions currently experienced.
However, last week, Bharrat said that the problem was still persisting. “They gave us fertilisers and dig the canal but that doesn’t help; the salt water still affects us… I’m a family of five, inclusive of my mother, father, wife and sister. Both my sister and I work to provide for our family. My father assist with planting the crops. I think the government should look into the problem of the salt water,” Bharrat said.