The ministry of agriculture and forestry in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state Monday launched the harvest of about 500 acres of rice at the Aweil Rice Scheme.
Officials say more than 750 acres of the rice plantation were consumed by the ongoing floods in the state.
“Of course, we have today (Monday) launched rice harvest at the Aweil Rice Scheme. The acting governor Tong Lual Ayat, farmers and Food Agricultural Organization (FAO), World Food Program (WFP), and other partners,” announced minister Anei Deng Akok. “The ready acres for the harvest are 500 and 750 acres were destroyed because we imported short seeds from Uganda, Sierra Leon, and Bangladesh that’s why they got destroyed by the waters.”
Deng Ngong, the finance and administration director at the Aweil Rice Scheme said the high water levels make it difficult for harvest machines to access many parts of the scheme.
“We have some challenges like the heavy floods which hinder the easy access to the farms. We use plastic materials to collect the rice from the water. We are supposed to use the combined machines, but we are not using them because of floods.
On his part, Peter Akoon Madut, one of the farmers in the state, said the harvest can only be consumed in Northern Bahr el Ghazal alone.
“The production of this year is good and can feed us here in the state and we were hoping to feed the whole of South Sudan,” said Akoon.
He disclosed plans to improve harvest in the next season by working with international partners to provide fertilizers and farm tools to the farmers.