Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha on Wednesday assured farmers from Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) that despite somewhat unfavorable weather conditions over the past months, there will be adequate water to support their cultivation.
The minister made this disclosure while meeting with rice and cash crop farmers in the boardroom of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) in Anna Regina.
Earlier that day, Minister Mustapha led a team to conduct an assessment at the Dawa Pump Station which is located in the Tapakuma Village. This pump station is outfitted with four pumps and auxiliary engines and was designed to provide irrigation water from the Tapakuma River to supplement water in the Tapakuma Lake/Conservancy to irrigate rice lands along the Essequibo Coast from Somerset & Berks in the north to ZorgEnVlygt in the south.
Minister Mustapha explained that the current capacity of the pump station was 215,400 gallons per minute adding that within a week, the water level is expected to be at a satisfactory level for both rice and cash crop farmers. He also said that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) will also be putting systems in place to divert water resources from Good Hope to supplement what is being used for irrigation through the Dawa Pump Station.
During the meeting, Minister Mustapha said that although the ministry’s Hydromet Service has forecasted that some amount of rain is projected, the usual wet season rains are not expected and that systems are being put in place to ensure farmers, specifically rice farmers, have enough water as they prepare for the upcoming sowing season which is expected to run from mid-November to mid-December.
While farmers’ main concern was adequate water resources, issues about effective monitoring of irrigation structures were also raised. Minister Mustapha then called on the Regional Officials to engage rangers to ensure there is a heightened monitoring of these irrigation structures.
Farmers were also allowed to raise suggestions on how to monitor the situation to ensure effective management of the resources and the system. While some suggested a schedule detailing how water will be distributed within the cultivation areas, Minister Mustapha said that it would have to be something that all farmers agree on.
“We have a similar system in Black Bush Polder in Region Six where we publish who will get water and when. It is a system that is working for those farmers but you, the farmers, have to agree on it. We can look at it. I’ll ask the NDIA and the Regional Officials to work with you on that,” he said.
The minister also formed a committee comprising representatives from the two Water Users Associations (Annandale- Good Hope Water Users Association and the Charity – Zorg-en-VlygtWater User’s Association), the NDIA, the Regional Officials, and the security forces to monitor the water situation and structures to ensure the system runs effectively.
Minister Mustapha was accompanied by MoA’s Director General, Madanlall Ramraj, Chairman of the NDIA, Lionel Wordsworth, GRDB’s Deputy General Manager, Kuldip Ragnauth, GLDA’s CEO (ag), Dr. Dwight Waldron, NAREI’s CEO, Jagnarine Singh, and other staff of the ministry.
