ANKARA (AA) - Since 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has provided grants for more than 47,000 irrigation projects across Türkiye, paying more than 2 billion liras and irrigating 4.7 million decares of land with modern systems.

According to a statement made by the Ministry, the General Directorate of Agricultural Reform has been encouraging individual in-field modern irrigation systems through grants since 2007.

The ministry provides 50 percent grant support for investments up to 1 million liras. The irrigation systems for which these supports are provided consist of in-field drip, in-field sprinkler, in-field micro sprinkler, in-field subsurface drip, linear or center pivot, drum and solar energy systems for agricultural irrigation and smart irrigation systems.

The Ministry, which has included 47 thousand 264 irrigation projects in the scope of grants since 2007 across Türkiye, has ensured that 4 million 703 thousand 211 decares of land are irrigated with modern systems. A total of 2 billion 13 million 486 thousand 439 TL grant support was paid for these projects.

Within the scope of rural development supports, project acceptance procedures started across the country as of March 15. To date, applications have been made for 8 thousand 704 projects on an area of 773 thousand 953 decares.

Of the 622 million 368 thousand 226 Turkish liras requested for this year, 300 million Turkish liras have already been allocated. Thus, 238 million 950 thousand 565 TL grant payments were made to 4 thousand 733 projects on an area of 395 thousand 229 decares.

- "Water is a matter of national security"

Vahit Kirişci, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, stated that they consider water as a matter of national security, considering the world conjuncture.

Emphasizing that the work to be done in the field of "irrigation management" means planning Türkiye's future, Kirişci stated that it is important to use water economically in every field.

Kirişci stated that they are expanding the use of piped irrigation systems to save money and make more use of unit water, and made the following assessment:

"We foresee that the piped network system, which is currently 32 percent, will reach around 45-50 percent with new projects and modernization of old irrigation systems. We evaluate the needs of irrigation facilities that cannot be met by maintenance and repair works within the scope of the 'renovation project'. Within the scope of the renovation project, 37 thousand hectares have been converted into closed irrigation systems so far. Work is ongoing on 1.3 million hectares. If these areas with classical canal systems are converted to piped networks, 5.8 billion cubic meters of water will be saved through drip and sprinkler irrigation according to their average water consumption. This corresponds to 13 percent of our water used in irrigation."

Emphasizing that limited water resources should be used effectively in all sectors in harmony with the environment, Kirişci noted that they provide incentives to ensure that farmers switch to economical and modern irrigation systems.

Source: Anadolu Ajansı