Kalimbeza – Water has been restored at the Kalimbeza Rice Project, which has been without water for more than two weeks.
The water shortage, which emanated from a mechanical fault at a pump station, was restored last week.
The crippling water shortage adversely affected rice seedlings that were at great risk of wilting in the heat. Rice requires constant watering and water-logged soil to survive.
Workers had to draw water from tanks to water the rice manually, and as a result rice transplantation had to be suspended until water was restored.
However, rice fields had plenty of water when this reporter visited the government-owned farm yesterday.
The pump station was repaired and it has started pumping adequate water needed in the fields.
This year, the Kalimbeza Rice Project expects to plant 90 hectares of rice.
The Kalimbeza Rice Project, which sits on the banks of the Zambezi River, about 30 kilometres east of Katima Mulilo in the Kabbe constituency, covers an area exceeding 200 hectares.
Hundreds of villagers work as seasonal workers at the farm with five more having been allocated small plots as small scale farmers.