Drought Bites Deep for 5,000 farmers in the North

The parched earth of Northern Mauritius is telling a tale of woe. Small sugar cane farmers are bracing themselves for a disastrous harvest, their livelihoods hanging by a thread as a prolonged drought tightens its grip on the region. Hope is dwindling with each passing day, and some farmers are now resigned to the fact that without immediate rainfall and proper irrigation, they will be unable to salvage anything from their fields.

Kreepalloo Sunghoon, spokesperson for the Small Planters Association (SPA), voiced the growing despair.

He pointed to the critical absence of rain since last December as the root of the problem.

“Sugar cane needs moisture and heat. After it starts to grow, the February and March rains are vital for it to reach its expected height,” he explained.

This year, however, the life-giving rains failed to materialise between November and January, leaving the cane crops stunted and withered.

“They have lost nearly two and a half months of the rainy season. We are desperately hoping for rain this month,” Sunghoon pleaded.

Even if the heavens open in February, the SPA warned that a decent harvest for small planters is now unlikely.

And if the rains continue to stay away? “The cane,” lamented Sunghoon, “will become nothing but straw and bagasse.” (kann-la pou vinn lapay lapay, li vinn bagas)

The relentless drought has already driven many cane farmers to abandon their fields in the North, a tragic exodus fueled by desperation.

“At one time, we had 12,000 small planters. That number fell to 6,000-7,000.

Now, I think we’re approaching the 5,000 mark, perhaps even less,” Sunghoon revealed with a heavy heart.

The situation is no better for vegetable farmers.

As Sunghoon puts it starkly, “karay la so” (“the pot is empty”).

He elaborated, “They know this year is much more difficult, and many planters haven’t dared to invest in the fields in November and December for the January, February, and March harvests.”

Those who risked planting face a grim choice: purchase costly water or rely on dwindling supplies from the Irrigation Authority.

Either way, the cost of production will inevitably skyrocket, as manual irrigation is requiring additional labour.

Currently, the vegetables reaching the markets primarily come from fields fortunate enough to have access to natural water sources.

However, the overarching reality is that many farmers in the North have abandoned their fields due to the relentless risks associated with increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, leaving a trail of shattered dreams and empty fields in their wake.

Source: Le Mauricien