–over 1,800 rice and other farmers set to benefit

CABINET has approved some $29M for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) to commence rehabilitation works to several access dams in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); Five (Mahaica-Berbice); and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
This is according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha who said that the works are considered urgent, as some 91,580 acres of rice fields are currently under threat due to the inaccessibility of dams.

“Farmers have been complaining about the current state of these dams,” Minister Mustapha said, adding: “Due to the severity of the last rainy season, the NDIA and the various regional administrations were unable to carry out much-needed repairs and maintenance to over 227,000 rods of access dams. Farmers will suffer millions in losses, if we do not carry out these works immediately for them to be able to harvest their rice for the upcoming autumn crop.”
The funds will also facilitate repairs to an additional 101,942 rods of dams that were damaged due to continuous use by farmers who made efforts to save their crops and recover expenses from what they could have harvested.

With fields yielding an average of 40 bags per acre, farmers are expected to harvest over 3,663,000 bags of paddy, with an estimated value of G$10.2B.
Rice remains one of Guyana’s largest export earners, grossing over US$222M in 2019.

Government is currently in the process of preparing a four-month budget that will see the Ministry of Agriculture carrying out additional emergency works to a number of drainage and irrigation (D&I) structures and access dams across the country. (DPI)