As part of the rice fields restoration accompanying activities, a series of training sessions on the management and maintenance of irrigation networks as well as a participatory evaluation workshop on the yield of the 2014 off-season rice campaign were organized in Brickaville from April 14 to April 24.
As a reminder, concerning ricefields impacted by the pipeline’s construction, Ambatovy’s commitments toward populations affected by the project are not limited at the level of physical restoration works and the compensation package for production losses. They are accompanied by technical assistance to the farmers, as well as training on improved agricultural and composting techniques, a supply of agricultural inputs, and the implementation of demonstration plots in order to increase their yield per hectare.
Therefore, 30 farmers, chosen from among the impacted rice fields’ owners in the districts of Brickaville and Toamasina II, attended a participatory evaluation workshop on the 2014 off-season rice campaign on April 14-15, at the Agricultural Training Center (CFA in French), created by Ambatovy, in Brickaville. Under the leadership of the DRDR Atsinanana and with the participation of Ambatovy’s technicians, the workshop was part of the valorization plan of the restored rice fields, which is among actions closely monitored by the National Environment Office (ONE). It should be noted that this workshop’s aim was to analyze the results obtained during the last campaign and to propose solutions to encountered problems in order to improve adopted technical packages. For their part, the participants did not fail to thank Ambatovy for its assistance, not only for technical support, but also for agricultural equipment and inputs.
Immediately after, Brickaville’s CFA continued with a training session on irrigation networks for 90 members of Water Users Associations, split into three waves of 30 farmers. Each group had two days (April 16-17, April 21-22, and April 23-24) of training sessions focusing mostly on the maintenance and the cleaning of irrigation and drainage channels under the leadership of Rural Engineering technicians.
