According to the Deputy Minister of Agricultural Infrastructure and Irrigation Development, Jorge Montenegro, this year, the agricultural sector would grow between 4% and 5%, approximately, because agricultural exports and investments in general have been affected to some extent by the economic downturn.
Montenegro also said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI) is promoting and injecting resources so that important crops such as coffee, cocoa, and quinoa, among other non-traditional agricultural export crops, have a greater connotation, which will help balance the sector.
Regarding proper water management, he said they planned to invest 2,500 million soles, through the Mi Riego Fund, to work on the storage, regulation or revision of channels, and mainly in the implementation of modern irrigation, such as pressurized irrigation, to use more efficiently this resource.
He added that this would allow the country to work more than 140,000 hectares in the mountains, without taking into consideration the hectares that are already being worked on the coast via projects like Puyango-Tumbes, and Chira-Piura. He also spoke about other projects that were going to be developed, such as Alto Piura, Chavimochic, and the Olmos project, which is located south of Lambayeque and will possibly be on its second stage within a year, among others.
"We can say that we will be working on almost 100,000 hectares on the coast, but the ministry's purpose is to make 140,000 hectares adequate, in the mountains, so they can be cultivated," he said.
He said they were also working on different projects in the jungle, such as the Pangoa project and the Amojao irrigation project, but that they had other connotations. "The first project will allow us to develop about 3,000 to 4,000 hectares and the second one between 6,000 and 10,000 hectares, approximately," he said.
Montenegro stated they weren't only focusing on making the hectares adequate, but that they were working and seeing what crops had an increased demand both internally and externally so they could address the supply issue.
"We are looking for a mechanism, a synergy that allows us to ensure our farmers have a better quality of life, and that will also help them develop an entrepreneurial vision. We also focus on having good management of water resources, since it is life, development and progress. Without water, life wouldn't exist," he said.
Source: Agraria.pe