CAIRO - As the nation starts to sweat under a scorching sun, Egyptian farmers are afraid that there may be more brawls like last year's over the lack of irrigation water. Soothing statements by the Government about the resumption of cordial relations with other Nile Basin states haven't persuaded infuriated farmers to stop cursing water officials. Every summer, crop growers get involved in nasty fights with their neighbours over who should irrigate their land first, saving their crops from dying. Sometimes, farmers' crops in hard-hit areas do in fact shrivel up and die. The tragedy can be more disastrous, when some growers ignore the public's health and use sewage water to irrigate their land. Many citizens have died as a result of eating contaminated fruit and vegetables. The Government is also suffering, as health officials complain that the medical treatment for people who get sick from eating contaminated agricultural produce is very expensive. Ridiculing the Government's complaints, a frustrated crop grower insists that a proper irrigation system would be great for the public's health and the State budget. Abdel-Aziz Khalaf, a farmer in the Delta Governorate of el-Menoufiya, condemns the Government, represented by the Ministry of Agriculture, for betraying the farmers in summer. “Although there is a shortage of irrigation water every summer, it does not seem that the agricultural officials are willing to suggest a solution. Everybody is letting down everybody else. The Government does not want to learn from past disasters,” he says. The farmer, who cultivates about 15 acres, also condemns the agricultural officials for not being willing to listen to the advice of experienced farmers. “We have firsthand experience about the problem with irrigation water,” Khalaf explains. “We know what the solution is. But the officials won't discuss our suggestions.” The escalating resentment in el-Menoufiya Governorate has also spilled over into el-Sharqiya Governorate, where a lot of rice is grown. Farmers in el-Sharqiya say they have no alternative other than to use the same unhealthy irrigation methods they used last summer, in order to save their crops. Let down by water officials last year, they used water contaminated with industrial and chemical waste to irrigate their crops. Mohamed Abu Imam, a farmer from el-Zaqaziq, says that some rice growers may have to stop working this season, if there's no solution to the water crisis. “These farmers don't want the recurrence of last year's violence,” he adds. But the farmers themselves have also been blamed. A local municipal official says that rice growers ignore instructions from agricultural officials and insist on growing their crops in banned areas. Rice cultivation consumes a huge amount of water, so the larger the rice-growing area, the bigger the shortage of irrigation water. Mamdouh Raafat, an agricultural engineer in el-Zaqaziq, told the press that water officials, in collaboration with the farmers, should carefully control the water being taken from the canals in the city.
