BergerWorld: 4th Quarter 2005

For many years, the Dominican Republic has struggled with challenges of land ownership and agricultural development. According to the 1981 census, 55 percent of the arable land in the Dominican Republic belonged to large property owners representing two percent of the total farms, while over 82 percent of all farms were less than 20 hectares. To more equitably distribute farmland and encourage increased agricultural production, the Dominican Republic instituted an ambitious World Bank-funded agrarian reform program. Under this program, the Berger Group was selected to survey agricultural holdings, establish titles and develop irrigation systems where needed for new farm owners.

The Berger team conducted topographical surveys of more than 10,000 parcels of land in the fertile area near the Yaque del Sur, Yaque del Norte and Nizao rivers and submitted the land surveys to the General Directorate for Cadastral Measurement. Once the titles were secured, Berger began upgrading the Nizao Valdesia and Ysura irrigation systems. The Team prepared detailed designs, construction plans, cost estimates and specifications for the improvements. To ensure that each new farm had access to adequate irrigation, Berger supervised the drilling and equipping of additional wells and the rehabilitation of existing irrigation systems and secondary canals. Berger also rehabilitated and upgraded irrigation works along the M.A. Cabral Canal, one of the primary water sources in the area.

Creating reserve water supplies is a key element in protecting farmers from water shortages and damaged crops. To store adequate water supplies, the Berger team developed plans and monitored the construction of the El Llano and Rapida reservoirs which have a capacity of 105,000 and 160,000 cubic meters, respectively.

After establishing the primary irrigation structures for the community, Berger worked with local farmers to identify those areas which could best benefit from gravity or drip irrigation and assisted farmers in leveling the lands for row cultivation, enabling them to more effectively use modern irrigation systems.