By RICHARD SITLER
Indiana Correspondent

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Water is integral to agriculture. Too little or too much water can be disastrous. The amount of rainfall or the availability of irrigation plays a large part in what crops are grown.
Like many farmers, Denis Bissessar, 60, relies on water for his crop, sugar cane. Bissessar farms land with his three brothers and seven sisters – all ranging in age from 45 to 65 – along the man-made canals of the Demerara River. Some of the family members still own the land, but no longer farm it. They have moved to Canada or the United States.

Bissessar’s grandfather came to Guyana from India and bought the land for $1,000.

Climbing down from his blue New Holland tractor, Bissessar explained that his cane fields on Canal No. 1 on the west bank of the Demerara River require him to dig and maintain a vast irrigation system. They dig sluice lines and dams.

He explained the system was originally set up to grow rice, so the fields can be flooded and drained, and in some areas rice is still cultivated. But Bissessar chooses to grow sugar cane.

Guyana is tropical, hot, humid and rainy with little variations between high and low temperatures. The average daily high temperature in Georgetown is about 85 degrees F. The average low temperatures range in the mid-70s. Guyana is in the path of the northeast trade winds, which bring a cool afternoon breeze to the coastal areas, where approximately 90 percent of the country’s population lives.

There are two rainy seasons: May and June, then again from November through January. This year, though, the winter rainy season was light. In 2005, though, so much rain fell that there was severe flooding along the canal system.

The brief torrential rainfalls are often followed by rainbows at the sun and heat dries off the new-fallen precipitation.

The Conservancy

Bissessar’s family lives in several houses near something called the Conservancy. The Conservancy is a canal that was built mostly by slave labor when Guyana was still a British colony.

Guyana didn’t receive its independence from Great Britain until 1966.

The canal flows north to south from the Demerara River and provides irrigation for much of the countries’ cropland. The Conservancy is what allows Bissessar and his family to grow sugar cane and other crops.

This winter, though, there are concerns of not enough water in the Conservancy.

According to reports published in the Kaieteur News, a Guyana newspaper, the government has warned farmers to monitor water use. The East Demerara Water Conservancy levels have dropped severely due to El Nino weather conditions.

The East Demerara Water Conservancy is Regions 1 and 2 of the canal system. It serves 32,476 acres of rice farmland and other crops. Here is a summary of the other canal regions:

Region 3 - the Boerasirie Water Conservancy supplies about 25,933 acres of sugar farmland; 21,380 acres of rice and 19,487 acres of other crops.

Region 4 - serves about 32,116 acres of sugar cane; 6,138 acres of rice and 1,176 acres of vegetable crops as well as 4,742 acres of orchards and coconuts.

Region 5 - the Abary Conservancy serves approximately 52,000 acres of rice, 16,000 acres of sugar and 19,000 acres of cattle grazing land.

Region 6 - water is provided by mechanical irrigation pumps from a creek for 46,994 acres of rice and 26,453 acres of sugar.
Farmers are responsible to ensure that the canal structures, field inlets and outlets are monitored and managed to avoid water wastage. Farmers are asked not to tamper with structures and dams.

Other regions of Guyana are supplied water from other systems.

The Bissessar family

The Bissessar family is Hindu, and they frequently talk about spiritual topics. Bissessar’s spirituality is connected to his work on the land. He sees cycles of nature and a connection between all things. Bissessar believes God gives everything regardless if anyone accepts or not.

The Bissessars don’t eat pork or beef. They are mostly vegetarian, although they do eat some chicken, dairy and eggs. Bissessar raises cows, just for milk. His sugar cane is sold to a plantation that includes a processing factory which is owned by the government. The cane is sold to markets in Europe and Venezuela. Bissessar invests in his cane farm, and he takes pride in the modern tractors and implements he owns. He is constantly working to improve the irrigation and drainage. Because his operation is a family one, and because he has a long-term vision, he often reinvests money back into his farm.

Bissessar is also community minded. It is important to him to pay his workers fairly and also run his farm so that it will always improve. This farm provides a living for his family, and also for the families of workers who live in the community.