Latest update January 25th, 2025 7:00 AM
Latest News
- Gov’t to add $5.9M in debt to every household by the end of 2025- Shadow Finance Minister
- Speaker blocks Opposition Chief Whip from highlighting allegations of corruption by VP Jagdeo, Ministers, Police Force
- US military aircraft deport migrants as Pentagon readies more troops for border
- Pick-up driver dies in blaze after crash with truck at Bartica
- Police officer, former GRA staff found guilty of computer forgery
Mahaicony rice farmers will soon benefit from access to irrigation water
Kaieteur News – Rice farmers and residents of Mahaicony River and surrounding areas in Region Five who are experiencing water woes will soon have an adequate supply of irrigation water as mechanisms will be implemented.
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha as he addressed the farmers at the meeting. (Photo: DPI)
Several farmers and residents who attended the meeting on Saturday. (Photo: DPI)
This was highlighted at a farmers’ meeting spearheaded by Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha at Green Mill, Mahaicony Branch Road, Region Five, on Saturday.
Minister Mustapha said the farmers would be provided with immense relief in response to their concerns guaranteeing their continuous output.
He also added, “I want to see all the lands under cultivation, especially in our rice sector… Within three days, you will get the water… Two pumps are there already… We have to monitor it. The main thing is that the creeks are running salt. We will look at that. We will put all systems in place to get it done.”
According to Minister Mustapha, the ministry will look at several possibilities to determine how to modify the system so that rice farmers have access to irrigation water.
“For the right bank people, we will try to get one [bowser] from GuySuCo that will designate this over so you can get water constantly… until we get the system cleared back. We will look to see where we can modify them,” the Agriculture Minister committed to the farmers.
To keep an eye on the river’s salinity levels, the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) was assigned to conduct four salinity tests every day.
Minister Mustapha also suggested that a rotation system can also be implemented to ensure all the farmers are provided with irrigation. In addition, the situation with the farmers will be constantly monitored by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), GRDB, and the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary (MMA).
In a few weeks, Minister Mustapha and his technical team will return to the area to make sure the systems installed are operating well and giving the farmers access to enough water.
He reiterated that Regions Five and Six are slated for the construction of massive Hope-like canals. Minister Mustapha said that some 40,000 acres of rice are being cultivated in the Mahaicony area.
To date, approximately 190,000 acres of land have been prepared across the country for rice cultivation. Additionally, some farmers, who requested excavation works to be conducted, were informed that a machine would be made available on Monday.
The minister was joined by the Chairman of NDIA, Lionel Wordsworth, CEO of Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), Dr. Dwight Walrond, Regional Chairman, Vickchand Ramphal, other heads of agencies and representatives of GRDB and MMA. (DPI)
- Dr. Dwight Walrond, Guyana Rice Development, Minister of Agriculture, Regional Chairman, Rice farmers and residents, Vickchand Ramphal, Zulfikar Mustapha
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Development requires more than oil revenues
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- In one of the most impassioned pleas ever made, an evangelical Bishop Rev. Mariann Edgar... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
