Irrigation authority rations water at Mwea due to biting drought

The National Irrigation Authority (NIA) is rationing water supply to rice growers in Mwea, Kirinyaga County, due to drought.

The harsh weather is a threat to 30,000 acres of rice at the expansive Mwea Irrigation Scheme.

Due to the prolonged dry spell, water levels in the Nyamindi and Thiba rivers, which the scheme depends on, have dropped drastically.

Farmers complained that if the drought persists they could lose the crop.

"Rivers are drying up and the situation is serious. Our fields don't have enough water and our rice may be wiped out," said farmer Simon Njogu.

Scheme Water Users Association chairman Mauricious Mutugi said the dry weather affects the whole region but assured farmers that their crop will be safe.

He said the association and the NIA were rationing water from the Thiba dam to ensure that the rice does not dry up.

No cause for panic

"We are making sure that the little available water is distributed to every part of the scheme where rice is growing and there should be no cause for panic," Mr Mutugi said.

Without the dam, he said, farmers would have registered heavy losses this season.

"Water preserved in the dam is helping us to irrigate rice, otherwise the situation would be very bad," he added.

The rationing will continue until it rains, he said.

"We shall share the water well to make sure all the rice in this scheme matures and is harvested," he said.

The crop was at the flowering stage and rationing was strictly monitored by the association and NIA field officials, he added.

The scheme is Kenya’s rice granary. It is the largest in the country and produces 80 per cent of rice consumed nationally.

It produces 114,000 tonnes of rice annually and plans are underway to double production.

The national government is expanding rice acreage in the scheme to increase production for local consumption and export.