Agrarians ask Cabinet for help with reconstruction of the irrigation systems
2012-07-12 14:13:00
The executives of the Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine have appealed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov with a request to assist with the reconstruction of the melioration systems in the risk farming area in the southern regions of the country.
The reconstruction of the irrigation systems is a very expensive process, and even large agricultural holdings can hardly renew the irrigation system by their own means, and as for medium and small farms, it is not in their power at all, the first deputy minister of agricultural policy and food of Ukraine Mykola Bezugly told ForUm.
According to him, a public-private partnership may become a good solution, and the local authorities could reconstruct these systems.
Bezugly said that we will not be able to get a heavy yield in the southern regions without artificial irrigation due to the climate changes.
He added that only 700 thousand hectares of land are provided with irrigation while two million two hundred hectares of land require it, so we cope only with one-third of the needed number. The deputy minister also said that the cost of the irrigation system reconstruction amounts to 5 billion UAH.