The MWRI is responsible for maintaining the main water pumps (that pump water out of the Nile into the higher desert land), cleaning and maintaining the main canals, and planning and executing water distribution schemes. In Sa’yda, for example, five pumps are responsible for pumping water onto land that is up to 46m above the Nile. In each settlement, there exists an irrigation engineer and a group of assistant staff (with engineering, social work, and high school diploma backgrounds) who plan and execute water distribution, allegedly, in collaboration with local Water User Associations. The LDUs are responsible for cleaning the sub-canals, which are on village land. Water canals and pump encasing structure are dug and built by GARPAR. In both settlements, drip and sprinkler irrigation were
encouraged, as elsewhere in the New Lands. Irrigation equipment, such as on-farm pumps, aluminum tubes, and sprinkler irrigation, as well as, only in Upper Egypt, two drip irrigation lines were provided by GARPAR. The GARPAR continues to own the on-farm pumps that were distributed to settlers.
In the Sa’yda settlement, however, during the early stages of settlement, the LDU managed all the canals and employers related to water distribution. In Sa’yda, from 1998 until the late 2000s, the water arrived to farmers on a bi-weekly basis. This made it difficult to use sprinkler and drip irrigation, rather than flood irrigation, as drip and sprinkler irrigation provided lesser quantities of water and, therefore, required water to be available over longer periods. Hence, farmers opted for flood irrigation, which resulted in flooding in the entire settlement. Not only was the problem with bi-weekly water access, in Sa’yda, the irrigation equipment was reported to be faulty and insufficient for the whole land. More recently, however, in Sa’yda, since the late 2000s, water was distributed in more frequent water rotation system (3 days per week) that comprised of organized opening and closing of certain waters gates.
This is better for the crops, as during the summer salinity is very high, and it is better to get a constant supply of water to leach the salts out of the roots zone, rather than once every two weeks. This new model of irrigation also made water more accessible to farmers, yet not completely, especially during May when many of the sugarcane cultivators upstream are at the peak of water consumption. Note here that water is scarce in Sa’yda and not all the
settlers farm their entire land or any of their land at all. A few left their lands fallow. Few said that they did not plant all of their farms because there was not enough water for planting. Furthermore, about one third of the settlement area is not yet distributed. Others lamented that their lands have no access to water at all. As a result, the MWRI built, and continues to do so, drainage canals, which are used as irrigation canals, thereby double solving the problems of (1) lack of drainage and (2) irrigation water. This water, however, is of lower quality and many farmers complained it burnt their feet (see Barnes 2010).
Water pumps were stolen in many settlements, such as in the Samaha village of Sa’yda and Bangar Al Sukar in Boustan. These motors were guarded by the settlers, sometimes using weapons, but still many areas were theft-stricken. Furthermore, in Sa’yda many settlers did not like sharing the electric or diesel pumps provided by the government, which are provided to four landholders. Sharing the pumps also meant that those at the end of the lines get the least water. Settlers in Sa’yda, instead, depended on small diesel pumps which require expensive oil and diesel, about 80 EL for every two irrigations, compared to 17 EL for the whole month in the case of an electric pump. Few farmers flood irrigate through gravity with no need for pumps at all. The electric pumps had large pressure that through them one can operate sprinkler and drip irrigation. In Sa’yda, during summer time, heat contributes to technical difficulties in the pumping stations often leading to a general shortage in water supply.
In Intilaq, farmers’ electric pumps were not stolen but were frequently cut off from the electric grid every time one or more of the pump group members did not pay their electricity bill. Many of the affected farmers opted for reconnecting to the power grid
secretly, illegally to save their crops. Areas closer to the water canal have better water access than those at the end. In general though, the Arab Gulf entrepreneurs with large farms are at the beginning of the water lines. In groups of four neighboring farms, the farmers dig artesian wells to supplement the lack of adequate Nile water. Many settlers reported a good life when water was abundant, which then decreased with competitive water use over time. In Intilaq, settlers installed drip irrigation nets at their own expenses, more recently, when they
cultivated fruit trees on their farms. A few though took loans from the agricultural bank to cultivate fuit trees.
In both settlements, conflict over water use seems to be commonplace between
settlers. Settlers sharing water pumps had to wait to get their turn in irrigation. Many reported fighting with their neighbours for accessing their fair shares of water. Many women settlers who were managing their lands themselves in Sa’yda felt that they were getting less water than their male neighbours. Men often sleep and stay on their lands for long periods of time. Water during nighttime was more abundant. Women, on the other hand, often stayed in their houses at night and thus had access to lower levels of water. Also in both settlements, the distributed aluminum tubes were not convenient because farmers had to stumble across their fields to move the tubes when watering different areas, in Sa’yda, the tubes were shared between four farms. In Sa’yda, no one seemed to like sharing these tubes and many opted for flood irrigation.
3.11 ‘Greening the Land’
For the land to be cultivated, farmers first had to level the land (especially in Sa’yda where flood irrigation is practiced); leach out the salts in the land; build furrows on the farm for irrigation; buy a diesel pump (relevant to Sa’yda only); remove boulders; and fertilize the land. Optimally, irrigation and fertilization rates should be provided in smaller, more
frequent doses than in the Old Lands to leach out the salts and to avoid nutrient loss due to the high porosity of the sandy soils. A few farmers in Sa’yda, however, due to limited finances, neither leached their soils properly nor provided enough fertilizer to their lands. Some lands never ‘greened’ properly despite attempts at cultivation.
In fact, women in Sa’yda are eager to test whether their lands ‘green’ or not, with those greened deemed good land, as they would fetch higher rent and sale prices. In Intilaq, land preparation also involved installing a net of drip irrigation tubes, along with cultivating fruit trees. Perhaps, most importantly, ‘greening the land9’, in both settlements, involved changing the soil texture, or changing the lands’ soil to a darker color. The breakdown of
9
‘Greening the land’ is used throughout this dissertation not as a scientific term but as a term that is used by local people to describe the land reclamation process required to bring desert lands into agricultural production: hence the term green.
organic matter and animal manure darkens the soil and improves its nutrient and water absorbing capacity.
In addition to soil fertility, in Sa’yda wildlife also constitutes a challenge. A few women sit in the field all day scaring birds away from mature wheat crops. Many women reported that birds used to attack them when they first started cultivating their lands. Others reported that there used to be large amounts of scorpions, which decreased as the land became increasingly irrigated. Many also complained about wolves eating their crops, especially on farms that have no neighbours. Most feared is a horned viper, locally called
Tresha. It is believed that if bitten by a Tresha then the affected limb should be removed. Many mothers lamented their sons’ exposure to these ‘beasts’ and lack of available antidotes.
The government provided people in both settlements with money for the first
cultivation of the land, and the sum of money provided was based on the assumption that the land is leveled, leached of salts, and ready for farming. However, levelling the land and washing it requires oil, gas, and rental of leveling machinery (an excavator, locally referred to as laser), as well as fertilizer and seeds, all of which cost way more than the money provided. Many of the settlers’ parents in Intilaq helped the young couples financially get established in farming. Furthermore, in Intilaq there are numerous loans that farmers can take to cultivate fruit trees on the land, to install drip irrigation, and to fertilize and buy seeds, with an interest rate of 10%.
While most farmers in Intilaq fertilize the land with animal manure, many in Sa’yda do not, as they believe that manure burns the soil and that it is too expensive to move manure from the Old Lands. Those who do in Sa’yda come from farming backrounds where
composted manure is applied to the land. Some well-off farmers in Sa’yda use sugarcane remains from the nearby sugar factory and spread it on the land to enhance soil structure. Also, because the settlement is flooded, some try to bury the land in a thick layer of soil and amendments (such as sugarcane and manure). Those farmers who practice this technique are few, however, and fewer are successful.