Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing at Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, he confirmed that the weather phenomenon has, once again, arrived in Guyana.

He said when Cabinet met on Tuesday, the Minister of Agriculture, in drawing attention to it, highlighted the manifestations, particularly the diminished rainfall over coastal and hinterland areas.

“That manifestation has been evident over time and, as I said, coastal and hinterland areas have been affected and the impact of concern to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cabinet has been that affecting growing crops, particularly in the coastal regions with rice,” Luncheon said.

He noted that the prolonged dry season is threatening crops in many geographic areas and the lack and the expectations of the continued lack of rainfall would affect sowing for the next season’s crops.

Luncheon said the special inter-agency committee is chaired at the Cabinet Office and includes technical officers from the involved State and Government agencies.

He explained that the remit of that body would be to monitor the situation as it unfolds and make recommendations.

“In its first consideration of the matter, Cabinet was presented with an initial assessment of the impact and the interventions and Cabinet supported a range of interventions, including attention to the hinterland regions as was proposed by Minister Robert Persaud (Minister of Agriculture),” Luncheon disclosed.

Replying to questions from the media, he reminded that the primary focus is, understandably, on the agricultural sector and deals with both the coastal regions as well as the hinterland regions.

Luncheon emphasised that, in the coastal regions, the committee is looking at rice and, in the hinterland areas, it is subsistence farming.

PRIMARY CONCERNS

“It is both the crops that are in the ground right now as well as the anticipated failure of the rainfall to prepare the ground for sowing of the next crop. So those two are our primary concerns,” he reiterated.

Luncheon said, because rivers and shallow wells have, indeed, also been exhibiting consequences and the manifestation of El Nino.

He said, certainly, were it to continue and gather pace, Guyana may, indeed, end up with the issue of potable water in some locations.

However, the HPS said that is not the issue right now but the primary focus is on irrigation and, in the case of the hinterland regions, there may be a need to fund a new wave of the construction of deeper wells as the shallow ones may no longer be productive.

“On the coast and in some areas in the hinterland, large earth moving equipment will have to be deployed to take available water from where it is to where it needs to be, to support whether subsistence or commercial agricultural operations,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture, in an effort to ensure farmers receive irrigation water for their crops, has embarked on several initiatives in the various regions to relieve farming communities.

The Ministry, in keeping with its quest to offer sound, transparent and effective support to the farming community, has appointed a task force to address the irrigation issues posed by the dry conditions.

A release said the group comprises representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the Hydrometeorological Department, the Ministry of Local Government, the River and Sea Defence Department, Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC), Boerasirie Conservancy and Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA).

They have already identified areas that need urgent support and will examine additional interventions for farmers’, particularly in rice growing regions that are being affected.

The release urged farmers to capitalise on the current weather conditions to reap and maximise land preparation.

The Hydromet Department has indicated that a weak El Nino was present during July but it is expected to strengthen because, for the coming September/October season, the probability for El Nino is estimated at 80 per cent.

Given this outlook, it is anticipated that El Nino effects will affect most of Guyana during August to October 2009 and may include, generally, below average rainfall over most of the country and reports said such conditions could prevail until the first quarter of 2010.

Minister Persaud and other senior officials of his ministry have begun a series of outreach visits to Regions Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands), Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), as part of a countrywide assessment to determine Government’s actions.