iciHaiti - Agriculture : Thousands of hectares of rice threatened by drought
Electricity of Haiti (EDH), due to the drought which causes a drop in the water level of Lake Péligre by several centimeters per day, is unable to ensure a flow rate of 40m3 per second necessary to supply the Canot dam placed under the authority of the Artibonite Valley Development Organization (ODVA), which irrigates some 30,000 hectares of the Artibonite Valley, which produces nearly 80% of domestic rice production.
As a result, the irrigation canals no longer allow sufficient irrigation of the rice fields and threaten thousands of hectares of rice plantations if nothing is done to supply the irrigation canals.
Frantz Jean Mary, the Director General of ODVA, in a correspondence encourages the state authorities concerned and the planters of the Artibonite Valley to sit down with a view to finding a lasting solution to this recurring crisis of access to the water experienced by this rice-growing region. Mary considers it necessary to launch repair work on the watersheds and rehabilitation of the Péligre dam, to ensure the maintenance and coating of the networks and to popularize a new plan and cropping calendar.
