Water depletion in Sudan’s agricultural scheme

Hundreds of acres planted with wheat in El Gezira have dried up as the channels that normally feed the Agricultural Scheme have been depleted of water for more than a month. Large-scale food scammers have been arrested in El Gedaref state.

Farmers told Radio Dabanga that, as a result, the channels now bring mud instead of water to the fields. Most farmers have completed the land preparation but the water is scarce. Several areas cultivated with wheat burned down as a result, a farmer reported.

“Dozens of farmers' delegations have sought help from the administration of the Scheme,” he explained. “We did not get any response from the officials in the headquarters at Barakat.”

Hasabu Ibrahim, leading member of the El Gezira and El Managil Farmers Association, warned in June this year for the irrigation of the farmlands, which is hindered by the sedimentation in the channels. Only 40 per cent of the water in the channels reaches the fields.

Flour scam

Health authorities in El Gedaref state reported they found scammers in the possession of 1,300 sacks of expired flour and rotten food oils. El Gedaref Commissioner, El Amin El Taiyeb, has warned people to exercise care at buying food and check the expiration date.

El Taiyeb claimed that the “unidentified group” was at work to fill smaller bags with flour, weighing 25 kg. A police force arrested the scammers with the machine they used for packaging the flour. They also found rotten food oil that was repacked again in small bottles after changing the production date.