Essequibo irrigation crisis…
CHAIRMAN of Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Mr. Alli Baksh has said Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Robert Persaud, will be asked to intervene in the water crisis that is currently affecting the rice crop on Essequibo Coast.

Addressing overseers, rangers of the Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) Department, officers of the Rice Producers Association (RPA) and Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), at a meeting in the Regional Boardroom last Friday, Baksh said he has given instructions for all regulators that the supply of irrigation water at the South end of the Coast to be closed for two weeks.

Baksh said the action is to allow a build-up of water at the Central and North end of the Coast, so the low and high lands can be irrigated.

He said farmers in the South end have enough water for their cultivations and urged them to conserve.

Baksh also appealed to farmers in the Central and North end to cooperate with the Regional Administration and let water accumulate in irrigation canals, so all fields can be irrigated by gravity flow.

He warned, though, that farmers should not use tractor driven or any other pumps to get water into their fields from irrigation canals, while the Regional Administration is spending millions of dollars to guide the flow from Pomeroon River, through the newly rehabilitated Dawa Pump Station, to all fields.

Baksh said the situation is very serious in light of the El Nino weather pattern that is expected to last until the end of March.

He said rice is the main economic activity in the Region and farmers depend on it for their livelihood.

Consequently, Baksh said the Administration is doing everything possible to provide water for the crop to be sustained.

Regional Vice-Chairman, Mr. Vishnu Samaroo said the El Nino crisis in 1997 started while the crop was already growing, so it was easy to sustain.

But, this time, he said the situation is different because the conditions developed during the preparation of fields for sowing and subsequently worsened as the crop is growing.

Samaroo said most of the high lands were not sown as yet and farmers are still pumping water, despite the appeal by the Regional Administration.