THE Agriculture Ministry is facing an irrigation water emergency, particularly in Regions Five and Six; and subject minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has reached out to APNU’s Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and the AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan – respective shadow ministers of agriculture in their political parties — seeking their support in ensuring maximum cooperation at this time.

Dr Ramsammy made this disclosure in an interview with state media at the Agriculture Ministry’s Boardroom at the corner of Regent and Vlissengen Roads in Georgetown on Friday, January 11.
“I’m asking my political brothers and sisters that this is not the time to score political points. Work with us so that we can turn this dire situation into one that does not impact on our production and our livelihood,” he emphasized.
He said both shadow ministers have promised him and the Agriculture Ministry their full cooperation, and have also promised to communicate to him any recommendations they might have.
“I particularly wanted to update them, and to ask for their support during this period of time. I am referring to the emergency that we face with irrigation water, particularly in Region Five and Region Six. The situation is not as desperate in Regions Two and Three,” he stated.
The Ministry of Agriculture has established a multi-sector task force to monitor the situation on a daily basis, and teams have already been deployed across the affected areas to provide feedback.
The Agriculture Ministry has extended invitations to the Ministries of Local Government, Public Works, Home Affairs, and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to participate in this task force.
Dr. Ramsammy explained that the situation is an emergency because of the dry weather currently being experienced. He added that the water level in all irrigation canals in those two regions is either non-existent or very low.
“There is no irrigation canal in Regions Five and Six where the water level is adequate, and therefore we are struggling to find water, particularly for the rice farmers and the cash crop farmers,” he stressed.
He pointed out that there are already some 70,000 hectares of land currently under rice cultivation, and there are another 10,000 hectares under land preparation. Therefore, water is desperately needed, and many farmers have gone without the precious commodity for between one and two weeks; which means that their crops are under stress, though not yet destroyed.
While the minister assured that the ministry is trying its best to get water into the areas, he is appealing to all farmers to share the low supply of water currently available.
He noted that many farmers have the capacity to pump water from the irrigation canal into their fields, but he advised that the ministry would like to monitor that, so as to ensure that everyone benefits.
He explained that because some farmers have their fields closer to the source, they have first access to water from the canals; and sometimes after they have finished pumping, there is none available for farmers at distant points.
Dr. Ramsammy is therefore suggesting that farmers in any particular area should limit their pumping so that the water could reach other farmers as well.
“We will regulate that, and so I don’t want people to think that we are unfair. We just want to make sure that we ration the pumping so that all farmers have access to the inadequate amount of water that is available,” he asserted.
Minister Ramsammy further assured that the Agriculture Ministry is doing everything possible, and considering any recommendation that can be implemented to remedy the situation. However, he added that there are some things which cannot be done because they may harm rather than help. He pointed out, for instance, that there are some sluices which cannot be opened.
“The sluices that are near to the ocean, we can’t open (them) because the salt water would seep into the irrigation system and that would be just as disastrous as (having) no (fresh) water,” he related.
Nevertheless, the minister advised that Agriculture Ministry personnel are constantly monitoring the salinity of the water, and at an opportune time, those sluices would be opened.
He disclosed that two new engines and a hydro-flow pump have been placed in Region Six. The one at Manarabisi is supplying some 23,000 acres of land under cultivation in the Black Bush area.
In addition, there is a pump operating continuously at Mibicuri, and another should soon become operational, thus adding to the drainage and irrigation capacity. According to the minister, this will supply another 20,000 acres of land under cultivation in the frontlines of Black Bush Polder.
He also disclosed that a mobile pump has been supplied to the Crabwood Creek area, and it is drawing water from the Canje River, because it has been determined that the Canje River has enough water to supply those areas.
He further related that the pumps at Mora Point, Mahaicony are continuously operating, and that several mobile pumps have been placed along the Mahaica and Mahaicony Rivers to pump water into the irrigation system.