70% MMA-ADA farmlands remain intact despite prolonged flooding

Rice farmers in the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary – Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA) Scheme are getting back to the land after the floodwaters have receded.
About 70 per cent of the farmlands within the MMA-ADA Scheme remain intact despite the prolonged flooding, and many farmers are now getting back into cultivation.

Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) is the country’s largest rice-producing Region, with most of the rice being cultivated in the MMA-ADA Scheme.
Just less than 100,000 acres of land are under cultivation in the MMA Scheme, and about 60,000 acres have already been put into rice cultivation for the current crop.
Vice-Chairman of MMA/ADA, Mohomed Rafeeoodin, said on Wednesday that on the Berbice side of the Abary River, close to 50,000 acres were saved there, with about 35,000 acres being primarily used for rice cultivation.
According to Rafeeoodin, almost 60 per cent of that land is already sown.
“And the rest, farmers are on the ground doing land preparation, and some will be sown shortly, and it is expected that by the first week of next month, most of that will be sown – that is north of the main canal,” the MMA official explained to this publication.

Meanwhile, south of the main canal has about 14,000 acres under rice cultivation, but many farmers there are unable to access the land for cultivation purposes, as floodwaters still remain lingering.
However, that is not the case in the Mahaicony area.
“We were able to do empoldering so as to save 23,000 acres in the Abary/Mahaicony area; that is Burma/MARDS block.”
Rafeeodin explained that an embankment was made at Mora Point from the Abary façade to the Mahaicony façade. This exercise prevented water from the backlands from entering the front lands.
That area houses the Burma Research Station which produces most of the paddy which is used as seed throughout the country.
The Research Station uses 6,000 of the 23,000 acres there.
Rafeeoodin explained that on the southern side of the Mahaicony River there are about 9,000 acres, most of which is used for cattle rearing. Floodwaters remain there, preventing any access. Animals were either removed or died.
However, on the left bank of the Mahaicony river, the situation has seen thousands of acres of rice being destroyed.

“On the right bank of the Mahaica River; in the DeHoop block, we were able to save about 15,000 acres, while we would have lost some there,” Rafeeoodin explained.
The Agriculture Ministry, through its infrastructure arm the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), had about 50 hydraulic excavators in Region Five reduce the impact of the flood, get water off the land quickly, and preserve areas.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Rice Producers Association have advised rice farmers not the plant after the end of June.
However, because of the extended rainfall, which resulted in extensive flooding, the window period for cultivating rice was extended to mid-July. But rice farmers continue to prepare the land to go into the crop. Many of those farmers are eying early August.
The entire Region Five drainage and irrigation network, which includes residential areas, depends on the MMA/ADA. That agency overlooks all of the primary drainage systems in the Region. (G4)