The continuous support through the provision of drainage works for farmers has led to an increase in agricultural production.
These were the sentiments shared by 34-year-old farmer Mr. Dhan Raj Singh from Solovi, Nadi who spoke on behalf of the farmers during a recent consultation held by the Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment Hon. Dr. Mahendra Reddy in the Western Division.
Mr Singh said farming and cultivating 12 acres of land during the rainy season was a difficult thing to do for him as water logging was one of the major constraints on his farm.
He said drainage was one of the challenges he faced whereby close to 5 acres of land was not utilised as water logging was one of the major constraints he encountered during the rainy season.
“It used to be a late start for me in farming as I used to miss out in terms of planting seasonal crops as most of the time the land was flooded and cultivation could not have been done because of my water-logged farm,” he said.
“Before, I used only about 7 acres of land and the rest, about 5 acres was left idle because there was water on that portion of land which usually took time to dry before we could cultivate it for farming.
Mr. Singh further elaborated that close to $1000 worth of damages was accrued by him during these rainy days as most of his crops were damaged due to water logging.
“Now after the drainage works by the Waterways Ministry, I am currently able to cultivate the full 12 acres of land and have witnessed a rapid growth in the production,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister Reddy has reassured farmers around the country that they will not be neglected hence immediate response will be provided to them to further increase their agricultural production.
He said the Waterways Ministry would continue to assist other farmers around the country and will ensure that all creeks and public drains are cleared and do not affect farm production.
“There has been a lot of drainage works done around the country and this is not the end, the Ministry is currently working on scoping work on the requests that have been done by the communities, villages and settlements,” said Hon. Reddy.