Ministry of Agriculture: the government is giving priority support to the development of irrigation

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The processing of applications is ongoing, and the goal of the Ministry of Agriculture is to support as many projects as possible in this popular call – he added. The Minister said that the winning irrigation development investments contribute to the growth of irrigated areas along the lines of water retention, sustainable management of our water resources, and economical irrigation technologies. Climate change is posing increasingly significant challenges to agricultural producers. Although the application of many good agrotechnologies already helps to retain water and improve soil conditions, continuous irrigation development is also necessary in order to strengthen crop and food security. According to István Nagy, the introduction of water-saving irrigation technologies and the expansion of irrigated areas will continue to play a key role in preserving the stability and increasing the competitiveness of domestic agricultural enterprises in the future. For all these reasons, the Ministry of Agriculture continues to encourage the spread of irrigation development investments with several measures and non-refundable support within the framework of the CAP Strategic Plan.

This year, the ministry also announced two calls for applications

The aim of this is to ensure the supply of water in cultivated areas exposed to significantly changed climatic conditions. The support of technical solutions that take into account the scarcity of surface and groundwater resources and, accordingly, result in maximum water savings has come to the fore – the minister explained. The maximum amount of support available for the call for proposals entitled Support for on-farm investments in irrigation development and water use efficiency improvement was HUF 200 million. A total of 461 applications were submitted by farmers for the call, which ended at the end of September and included four submission stages, worth almost HUF 33 billion. The processing of applications is ongoing, and decisions will continue at the beginning of next year. The ministry will support the applications of all small-amount applicants, provided they meet the eligibility criteria and reach the minimum score limit set in the call – István Nagy emphasized.

MTI