Maputo, 29 Jun (AIM) – The severe floods that affected the southern Mozambican province of Gaza this year caused damage to the Lower Limpopo Irrigation Scheme estimated at 23 million meticais (about 360,000 US dollars at the current exchange rate).
The Lower Limpopo irrigation system spans a physical area of 70,000 hectares across the Gaza districts of Xai-Xai, Limpopo, Chongoene, and Chibuto, with 17,000 hectares fully developed with modern infrastructure.
According to the coordinator of the scheme management, Isabel Sitoe, the floods submerged the entire infrastructure-backed area, wiping out more than 8,000 hectares of established crops.
Rice was the hardest-hit crop, accounting for about 4,200 hectares of the total loss. Beyond crop destruction, the damage to supporting infrastructure is critical.
“The floods caused siltation along 735 kilometers of canals and drainage ditches, damaged approximately 200 kilometers of access roads, and seriously compromised the protective dyke”, he said.
He explained that pumping stations also suffered considerable damage, compounded by vandalism and the theft of electrical cables from electric pumps, which has paralyzed the irrigation and drainage systems.
The vandalism at the Magula station alone has directly affected 1,050 hectares of farmland.
“The defense dyke, crucial for protecting both the irrigation fields and the provincial capital city of Xai-Xai from the rising river levels of Limpopo, currently has more than 14 breaches along its extension. Sitoe warned that any tide fluctuation or slight rise in the river level could flood the fields again, risking saltwater intrusion and further soil degradation”, Stoe said, cited by the independent daily news paper “O País.”
According to Stoe, emergency interventions are underway, including plugging breaches on access roads to allow farmers to return to their fields. “Distribution of agricultural inputs has also started, enabling some commercial operations to resume, such as the company UMBAU, which has already sown 700 hectares of wheat”, he said.
(AIM)
ZT/Am/
