More than 15 farmers of Mallau Settlement in Rakiraki will no longer have to worry about losing their crops during the rainy season.

This followed the completion of 5067 metres of drainage works by the Ministry of Waterways.

The advisory councilor Sumeet Kumar Shankar said more the concerned sugar cane and vegetable farmers used to lose most of their crops during the rainy season.

“All the drains here in the settlement were heavily silted and the outlets were blocked in which the water in the drain lingered,” he said.

“Whenever there was heavy rain, the farms would often get flooded and water in the farm would remain for days which would make the land boggy. This has resulted in a major decrease in production level.”

The advisory councilor further added that sugar cane and vegetable farming was a major activity in the settlement which provided food and income security to households.

He further acknowledged the support and assistance from the Ministry of Waterways which protected farmers from floods and supported their food and income security as most are full-time farmers.

The Minister for Waterways, Agriculture and Environment  Mahendra Reddy said the ongoing drainage and flood protection programme was designed to assist farmers and rural households through flood mitigation measures.

He said this drainage assistance would help farmers to achieve their targets in terms of farming either vegetables or sugarcane.

“This will also help the supply chain in the local as well for overseas markets,” he said.