On a visit to Vrancea County on Friday, Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu called on farmers to access European funds that would allow to rehabilitate secondary irrigation infrastructure, with the government to fund main irrigation infrastructure.
"I want you to give advice to submit projects on measures taken by the Ministry of Agriculture. Because it is useless for us to build the main irrigation infrastructure, if you do not come to take European funds 100% and free installations, under the programme for the rehabilitation of secondary irrigation infrastructure," Barbu told officials of the Vrancea Association of Cereal and Industrial Crops Farmers, the largest association of agricultural producers in the county.
Although at this moment about 5% of the agricultural area of Vrancea County is irrigated, Barbu gave assurances that in Vrancea, and also nationwide, all the investments proposed by the National Irrigation Programme in Romania will be completed by 2027.
"The area of Vrancea under irrigation is all included in the national irrigation plan. For the projects that have started, where European funds have been accessed, we have come up with the main infrastructure, which we did. (...) In the Namoloasa - Maxineni irrigation area, Vrancea County, there are somewhere around 10,000 hectares. We provide water for all 10,000 hectares. Now, I tell you, farmers who have accessed European funds irrigate 3,500 hectares. For the others, farmers have to step up and access European funds. (...) By 2027 we will complete the entire National Irrigation Programme in Romania," said Florin Barbu.
Vrancea County's agricultural area covers about 250,000 ha, including over 148,000 ha of arable land, 76,780 ha of pastures and natural meadows, 26,304 ha under vines, and 3,265 ha under orchards.
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