From an agricultural scheme established to modern specifications to a reality in which farmers grapple with water shortages, power cuts, and soaring production costs, the Al-Manasir Agricultural scheme in River Nile State offers a stark contrast between the ambitions of the past and the deterioration of the present.
Established in 2008 and becoming operational in 2009, the scheme covers a total area of approximately 60,000 feddans, according to its director.
The scheme was established by the Dams Implementation Unit as part of the resettlement projects for people affected by the construction of the Merowe Dam, some of whom were relocated to Al-Manasir Al-Jadida (New Manasir), southeast of the city of Ad-Damar.
If water outages persist for longer periods, some areas could suffer total crop losses.
Tarig Idris Salih, Director of the Al-Manasir Agricultural Scheme
Speaking to Atar, Al-Manasir Agricultural scheme Director Tarig Idris Salih said around 33,500 feddans of the scheme’s land are arable, but only approximately 8,500 feddans are currently under cultivation, in addition to 4,500 feddans of permanent orchards.
During the winter agricultural season, around 30,000 feddans are cultivated. The scheme has approximately 3,500 permanent farmers.
Tarig said the area currently under cultivation falls short of the planned acreage because many farmers have not cultivated their plots. The discrepancy, he said, stems from a longstanding problem dating back to the scheme’s inception: electricity shortages.
The scheme produces a range of crops in varying proportions, including alfalfa, wheat, adasiyyah – red lentils, sesame, as well as products from its permanent orchards.
Tarig told Atar the scheme was initially integrated, well-designed and equipped with modern technologies, but began to visibly deteriorate in 2017 and 2018. One of the main drivers of this decline, according to Tarig, has been the unreliable supply of irrigation water, particularly during the summer season, as a result of repeated power cuts.
The current situation has had a direct impact on farmers, he recounted, causing partial damage to nearly 1,500 feddans. He warns that if water outages persist for longer periods, some areas could suffer total crop losses. The scheme requires a strong and continuous flow of water for approximately ten hours a day, he explained.
The Water and Electricity Crisis
The irrigation crisis is compounded by the scheme’s reliance on electricity to operate its water system. Tarig said the scheme’s water pumps were designed in a way that does not allow them to operate on solar power. Running them on diesel, he said, is merely an emergency measure that is difficult to sustain for several days because of the high cost of fuel.
The director added that four new pumps have arrived and are currently being connected and commissioned. He expects the work to be completed by September 30.
The pumps will be ready for the winter agricultural season and can be powered by solar energy, following technical assessments and studies aimed at expanding the use of solar power.
According to testimonies obtained by Atar, some farmers are purchasing equipment to draw water from irrigation canals at a cost of around 17 million Sudanese pounds, while others are drilling boreholes and operating them with solar power. The total cost ranges from 45 to 70 million pounds, including the cost of drilling the borehole itself, with the final amount varying according to the number of feddans to be irrigated and the depth of the well.
The water crisis is not confined to the scheme’s administration.
Agricultural engineer Hassan Obeid, who worked at the scheme between 2012 and 2018 before leaving in 2019, and returned in 2024, said the scheme was at its strongest between 2012 and 2017, when it was operating at close to full capacity
From 2019 onward, however, he says, performance began to decline to around 70–80 per cent, before deterioration continued in the years that followed.
Obeid further explained that the total area cultivated each year has remained at around 30,000 feddans, but yields per feddan have steadily declined over time.
Speaking to Atar, Obeid said the scheme’s original design was sound and that the government had given it considerable attention. Experienced agricultural engineers and extension officers from different states were brought in to train farmers in the cultivation of crops such as sesame, soybeans and others.
But the biggest problem, he said, is irrigation.
The scheme relies on flood irrigation, and Obeid argues that its sustainability requires specialized irrigation engineers capable of determining the precise water requirements of each plot and each crop, rather than allocating water solely according to the number of irrigation cycles.
A specialized engineer, he said, can determine the volume of water required for different areas and crops. At present, however, water is managed on the basis of the number of irrigation cycles, an approach that fails to account for the actual water requirements of individual crops.
Obeid added that another obstacle is the burden placed on agricultural engineers, who are often assigned administrative duties outside their area of expertise. Their primary role, he argues, should be agricultural extension and helping farmers improve productivity.
The continued reliance by some farmers on traditional methods also poses an additional challenge to the introduction of modern agricultural practices. Some farmers, he said, rely on years of accumulated experience and are at times reluctant to adopt new recommendations.
According to Obeid, irrigation failures and the lack of specialized expertise have begun to affect land ownership itself.
Since 2019, some farmers have been considering selling their plots, while others have not cultivated their land since the scheme was established.
The continued water shortages and mounting losses, he said, are pushing some farmers to view selling their land as a better option than holding on to property whose productive value is steadily eroding, particularly after years of investment and labour.
Mounting Losses and a Costly Fix
If the current situation persists, the scheme may have reached its end.
Mohamed Hassan, farmer at the Al-Manasir Agricultural Scheme
On the ground, the consequences of the crisis are most evident in farmers’ accounts.
Farmer Abdel-Muttalib owns a six-feddan hawasha and currently cultivates around two feddans with horticultural crops. Abdel-Muttalib told Atar he has suffered heavy losses during the current season because of persistent power cuts, noting that his electricity supply was interrupted for around 45 days. He estimates his losses in alfalfa at more than 14 million pounds due to water shortages. If the situation persists, he said, he could lose his entire crop.
To cope with the crisis, he has resorted to buying water at a cost of around 400,000 pounds or more per tanker. Yet he considers the expense potentially less damaging than losing the entire crop.
Abdel-Muttalib sees solar power as one possible solution, but pointed out that its cost is beyond the reach of many farmers. He estimates that installing a solar system for a small holding of one or two feddans would cost at least 17 million pounds.
Farmers, he concluded, are exhausted by the annual losses, particularly during the summer agricultural season.
Farmer Al-Siddig Salam Siddig, who owns 12 feddans and currently grows sorghum, told Atar that farmers’ losses have accumulated over the past several years. They are now facing complete power outages lasting more than a month, according to his account.
Al-Siddig considers water shortages the farmers’ most persistent challenge. Although he regards solar power as a practical solution, he said it remains prohibitively expensive, affordable only to those with sufficient financial means or access to support.
Al-Siddig has resorted to purchasing a solar power system at a cost he put at approximately 17 million pounds, in an effort to save what remains of his crop and avert even greater losses. He said the winter agricultural season represents an opportunity for farmers to make up for losses incurred during other seasons, stressing that the land is capable of producing good yields if proper agricultural guidance is followed and its requirements are adequately met, even though farming ultimately remains an activity subject to both profit and loss.
He noted that wheat, alfalfa and vegetables are among the main crops grown in the scheme, adding that alfalfa remains a preferred option for some farmers because of its relatively low production costs and its ability to remain productive for several years.
By contrast, Al-Siddig considers the difficulty of marketing grain an additional source of loss for farmers, as there is no sufficiently profitable market for it, while alfalfa and vegetables tend to find buyers more quickly.
As for the cost of cultivating one feddan of alfalfa at the Al-Manasir scheme, engineer Obeid said that amounts to approximately three million pounds per feddan.
Obeid says ploughing costs 200,000 pounds, with two rounds required per feddan at a total cost of 400,000 pounds. This is followed by qasabiyya —land levelling —which is charged by the hour at 150,000 pounds. Each feddan requires five hours of work, bringing the total cost to 750,000 pounds. The next stage is batana, or tabteen—dividing the land into basins and irrigation furrows—which costs 100,000 pounds. The farmer then levels the land and sows the seeds.
A 100-kilogramme sack of alfalfa seed costs 1.75 million pounds. Obeid says a feddan requires a full sack to achieve dense growth, good ground coverage and high productivity. Each feddan also requires a sack of soil fertilizer costing 300,000 pounds, bringing the total cultivation cost to 3.25 million pounds.
Obeid explains that after planting, alfalfa requires a two-month establishment period before the first cutting, known as At-Tahura. Subsequent cuttings can then be carried out every 25 to 30 days. The farmer needs five further cuttings simply to recover production costs, after which the crop begins to generate profit.
As for returns, Obeid says a feddan produces around 50 bales per cutting, although this depends on the quality and density of the crop. The price of a bale fluctuates daily but currently stands at around 40,000 pounds, meaning a feddan can generate approximately two million pounds per month.
Some farmers are now considering selling their agricultural land and turning to artisanal gold mining as an alternative source of income.
Mohamed Hassan, farmer at the Al-Manasir Agricultural Scheme
Farmer Mohamed Hassan, who has been farming at the scheme since 2008, owns 24 feddans, of which 18 are currently under cultivation. Around 11 of those feddans are devoted to orchards growing citrus, guava, Persian jujube and other fruits, while another seven feddans are planted with alfalfa. Hassan says the scheme is deteriorating year after year, warning that if the current situation persists, the scheme may have “reached its end.”
Hassan considers irrigation failures and the lack of water provision an annual ordeal for farmers, but said the problem has reached dangerous levels this season. His losses during the current period, he says, have been severe: nearly half of his orchard plots have suffered complete losses and will have to be replanted with new trees, while yields from other crops have also deteriorated significantly after being badly affected by water shortages.
Alfalfa has been Hassan’s least affected crop because he relies on solar power to irrigate one of his plots. He estimates that equipping a single hawasha with solar power costs between 17 and 18 million pounds.
His annual losses from alfalfa alone, amounts to around 15 to 16 million pounds because of water shortages. He fears that if losses on the current scale are repeated next year, continuing to farm the scheme will become exceedingly difficult.
Farmers, Hassan says, are no longer confronting losses only in their crops. Some have begun considering selling their agricultural land and turning to artisanal gold mining as an alternative source of income, despite agriculture being the livelihood they have long known.
Winter: A Chance to Recover
As losses from the summer season mount, the winter season remains, for both farmers and the Al-Manasir scheme administration, an opportunity to salvage what can still be saved.
scheme Director Tarig Idris said the cost of agricultural operations has risen sharply, reaching around 1.5 million pounds for wheat and approximately 3 million pounds for alfalfa, by his estimate. This makes it difficult for farmers to shoulder the cost of cultivating large areas.
Some farmers who previously cultivated two feddans may be forced to plant only one in order to reduce costs, rather than abandon the season altogether.
Tarig stresses that the winter season is the scheme’s most important agricultural season. He points to the success of the previous winter season, noting that lower electricity demand during winter helps stabilize the power supply.
At the same time, demand for agricultural produce has increased over the past two years as the local market has expanded and the population of River Nile State has grown amid the conditions created by the war.
The importance of the Al-Manasir scheme, Tarig says, extends beyond local production. He points to increased productivity in recent years, particularly in alfalfa and animal feed, for which Sudan has a pressing need.
Tarig also noted that the agricultural sector has received some support, including the provision of around 5,000 gallons of diesel annually for land-clearing machinery, as well as the emergence of agricultural associations that provide wheat seed, fertilizers and other agricultural inputs.
He further pointed to a number of agricultural investment schemes surrounding Al-Manasir, including the Al-Mukabrab scheme, the Ad-Damar Food Security scheme, and around 500 centre-pivot irrigation systems. In his view, improving the irrigation system at Al-Manasir could have positive spillover effects on the agricultural schemes around it.
The Cost of Rescue Is Beyond Farmers’ Means
The cost of farming has risen sharply, without any guarantee that the farmer’s returns will match the amount invested.
Badr Al-Din Ahmed Suleiman, farmer at the Al-Manasir Agricultural Scheme
Badr Al-Din Ahmed Suleiman, a farmer who owns 29 feddans at the scheme, stresses that the electricity crisis and rising agricultural costs are not unique to Al-Manasir but reflect broader challenges facing agriculture across Sudan.
Badr Al-Din told Atar the cost of farming has risen sharply, estimating that preparing a single feddan costs around two million pounds, without any guarantee that the farmer’s returns will match the amount invested.
Badr Al-Din sees the winter season as an opportunity to recover part of the losses incurred during other seasons. The options available to farmers, he says, are diesel and solar power, both of which are costly.
He estimates that installing a solar power system to operate a borehole capable of irrigating his entire holding would cost nearly 60 billion pounds. A system designed to pump water from irrigation canals or the main waterways, meanwhile, would cost around 17 billion pounds, an amount he says is beyond the means of many farmers.
The issue is not simply how much of a crop has been lost, but whether farmers can continue farming at all.
Badr Al-Din Ahmed Suleiman, farmer at the Al-Manasir Agricultural Scheme
Badr Al-Din says cooperation among members of his family enabled him to drill a borehole and purchase a solar power system to save their crops, at a total cost of approximately 45 billion pounds.
Thus, caught between an electricity crisis that cuts off water to the fields, soaring fuel and solar-energy costs, and mounting crop losses, the Al-Manasir Agricultural scheme faces a challenge that goes well beyond salvaging a single agricultural season.
For farmers, the issue is not simply how much of a crop has been lost, but whether they can continue farming at all. And whether they can hold on to their land.
The scheme administration, meanwhile, maintains that addressing the water and energy crisis, alongside providing specialized technical expertise and agricultural support, could restore some of the scheme’s productive capacity.
