He added that apart from that, most of the farms especially in Jahally are going to get harvested in two weeks.
According to Mr. Jadama, due to the good organisation of the farmers in Jahally and through their efforts, they were able to complement the efforts of the Ministry, Department, and the Regional Agricultural Directorate by desilting their canal to facilitate and enhance the flow of water.
“Yes we have problems, some of the gates of the canals’ which are geared to manage water are not functioning well, nonetheless, at our level, we have provided pumping machines about three of it to assist where farmers cannot get water through the natural flow to pump it in” he explained.
According to the Regional Directorate, they just concluded a meeting with the farmer organisation and their next effort is to help the farmer organisation to be effective and efficient farmers.
“That is why we have extension workers who help with the organisation and orientation for the farmers to be able to start on time and to be able to manage the fields, infrastructure as well as contribute and complement government’s support,” he said.
He added that “years ago, before I was posted here, the field called unit 1 and other units were not being cultivated for years but through our intervention, encouragement, and guidance, the rice field was cultivated.”
Tijan Sanneh, irrigation engineer of the Central Project Coordinating Unit (CPCU) explained that some fields currently face water shortage but it has been exaggerated by the recent publication in the media.
“For Jahally, right now 80% of the fields is green and most of the fields are having water though there are some exceptions which we were made to understand that those fields lack water as a result of the problem of desilting and some the field plots are high for years those areas are not under production for tidal.”
He further narrated that two years ago, there were challenges that they assessed at the Pacharr rice field, which is why areas such as units 1, 2, and 3 are going to be rehabilitated by a project called: ‘Regional Rice Value Change’ and those are the areas where the farmers laid complaints.
