Rice industry still in jeopardy

Feb 14, 2010 News

…more still needed by Agri-Ministry to save thousands of acres – PNCR

People’s National Congress Reform Member of Parliament, Africo Selman, recently chided the Agriculture Ministry, calling on the entity to do more. Emergency measures are still required to save the rice industry from ruin, she said.
Selman told media operatives that the reported 32,500 acres of rice that have been sown in Region Two are now threatened by both a lack of irrigation water and the damaging effects of salt water which came in from the irrigation water pumped directly from the river.
She recalled that on February 4, last, the PNCR stated, “The farmers of Region Two, Essequibo Coast/Pomeroon, have expressed grave concern that they may suffer severe losses in the current rice crop due to shortage of water arising from the absence of rainfall and the poor distribution of water in the irrigation system.
“These fears were expressed January 31, 2010, when a Parliamentary and PNCR team visited the Essequibo Coast and held discussions with residents.”
She said that at that time, the party called on the Ministry of Agriculture and the Regional Administration to urgently address the situation and provide effective agricultural extension services to relieve the farmers from the impending crisis.
She said that after denying the PNCR disclosure of the factual situation, the Ministry of Agriculture belatedly announced that it had approved $4M for the purchase of fuel for Region Two farmers to ensure that they can access irrigation water during the arid El Niño weather.
“It also announced that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) is currently working with the region and farmers groups to undertake critical works to conserve irrigation water for crops and livestock rearing.”
She also drew reference to the fact that the party had stated that, even with El Niño conditions, water from the Tapakuma water conservancy should have been held in reserve and be able to service the rice cultivation areas.
“As the farmers explained, it was the serious flaw in removing the dam which facilitated gravitational flow of water from the high lands to the lower lands and the poor maintenance of the Tapacuma D & I Scheme that have contributed to the present problems.”

PNCR MP Africo Selman

She drew reference to a suggestion that was published in the media that “the supply of irrigation water in this region has never been under a schedule to farmers served by the conservancy, causing many problems of gravity feed for the higher lands within the Tapakuma Irrigation Scheme.
“The major schemes like Mahaica/Mahaicony/ Abary, Tapakuma and Black Bush were all designed to irrigate the higher rice lands first.”
Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, according to Selman, “was recently beating his chest in the National Assembly about the millions spent in repairing and installing new pumps at the Dawa Pumping station.”
Selman posited that the Minister fails to recognise that such expenditures are useless when the slow funding for the purchase of fuel for that Pumping Station prevents water from being stored in a timely manner in the main canal; and when no emergency measures to alleviate the irrigation problem were put in place before the El Niño weather took its toll for the second time on the rice industry.
She said that her party is hopeful that the belated action helps some of the affected rice farmers and that these farmers are provided with emergency relief.
“It is an appropriate time, however, for Robert Persaud to understand that propaganda and the establishment of institutions such as the new Agricultural Authority cannot replace effective policies for agricultural development in Guyana.”