Minister: Spring Hall farmers to catch floodwaters to aid drought relief

St Lucy farmers who have lurched from drought to flood this year are one step closer to getting relief, Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security Peter Philips said Wednesday.

As the Ministry launched the Pesticide Container Management Scheme at the Spring Hall Land Lease Project, Phillips revealed plans to build two water catchments with a total capacity of 132 million gallons to capture the area’s surface runoff.

“We are confident that the measures being implemented will go a long way in alleviating the water problems that have been plaguing the farms in this area for too long,” he said.

“The challenge for the farmers is that they lose crops all around. In the dry season, they lose because there is no water, then when there is the wet season there is too much water. So, we are trying to alleviate that as much as possible for them. The project is being done by the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC).”

One of the water catchments will be placed to the east of the main road to Crab Hill and the other to the south of the ridge road to Greenidge, said Philips who is also the MP for St Lucy.

Phillips said a study on the project has been completed and the Ministry is awaiting the official final report for consideration.

He said: “Farmers, I am well aware of the challenges you already face in this community with water, for this is an area where there is insufficient irrigation infrastructure to supplement supply in the dry season, resulting at times in critically low water levels. Furthermore, the area is prone to severe flooding in periods of heavy rainfall.”

Heavy rainfall in November 2019 left the Spring Hall farmers, who grow a large portion of the island’s produce, counting major losses from severe damage to their fields. Earlier that same year, the farmers also suffered from a drought which ruined crops.
(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)