By: Modou Touray
Women vegetable gardeners at Jarra Jenoi have told The Fatu Network that they cannot carry out their routine gardening effectively due to the intrusion of salt water in their gardens.
According to soil experts, saltwater intrusion leads to loss of freshwater and spread saline mudflats into previously vegetated areas.
Sainabou Saidykhan, the president of Jenoi Women Gardeners, disclosed that most of her colleague gardeners have abandoned their gardens and are reluctant to continue vegetable gardening because of the adverse impact of the salt water on their gardens.
“The women want the problem to be solved. I always encourage them to come over, but due to the current condition of their gardens, it’s hard to convince them. It pains to cultivate vegetables and they eventually fail to grow due to the saltwater intrusion.”
The women leader pointed out that the garden they are using belongs to the neighboring settlement of Pakalinding. “We are very grateful to the people of Pakalinding, especially Buwa Kinteh who asked his people to jointly share the garden with us.”
She emphasized that the issue of saltwater intrusion has been affecting them for the past 4 years.
Saltwater intrusion occurs when storm surges or high tides overlays areas low in elevation. Salt water infiltrates fresh water and raises the groundwater table below soil surface.
“We decided to grow onions because it’s one of the salt-tolerant vegetables.”
Salt- tolerant vegetables are more able to absorb water from saline soil. Salt sensitive plants and vegetables have a limited ability to adjust to accommodate the effects of salt intrusion.
“We will be happy if we have another environment big and fertile enough to address our current major challenge. We are looking forward to seeing it solved. we are managing to grow few vegetables. This is our source of income.”
She suggested the construction of borehole to flush saltwater from their vegetable garden. “The current borehole was damaged and the women contributed some money to repair it. The cost for the materials and labor was high.”
She called for support from government institutions involved in the vegetable value chain to assist them.
The Fatu Network contacted Mr Ebou Jorbateh, an agricultural extension officer who advised them to relocate the garden.
“It’s difficult to cleanse saltwater from the garden. Most of these problems occur during identification of land for a vegetable garden. Before identifying land, you need to consult soil scientists or agric officials to check the land so that they will advise if it is ideal for agricultural purpose,” Mr. Jorbateh said.
Mr Jorbateh disclosed that there is currently no equipment available with them to clear the already polluted salt water.
Agricultural extension officers are intermediaries between researchers and farmers. They operate as facilitators and communicators, helping farmers in their decision-making and ensuring that appropriate knowledge is implemented to obtain the best results with regard sustainable production and general rural development.
