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Aligned amelioration infrastructure significantly develops agricultural sector
"Rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure is intensively continued. As a result, meliorated land area exceeds 200,000 hectares in the country," – Mr. Otar Shamugia, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia mentioned, while addressing the Members of Parliament , within the framework of the "Minister’s Hour".
According to the Minister, water supplied area has increased from 45,000 to 160,000 hectares, while drained land area has increased from 14,000 up to 43,000 hectares. New pumping stations have been put into operation. Outdated and depreciated amelioration infrastructure still remains a major challenge.
"With the assistance of our partner donor organizations and through budget funding, large-scale amelioration projects are currently underway and planned for rehabilitation of both irrigation infrastructure and drainage schemes, which will ultimately enable us to make tens of thousands of hectares of agricultural land area intensively used for farming purposes, rehabilitate the existing irrigation reservoirs and construct new ones, improve water management.
We are actively cooperating with our partner international organizations and financial institutions, such as the World Bank, European Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank, French Development Agency for implementation of large-scale investments in the irrigation and drainage fields.
The aim of the respective cooperation is not only repair-modernization of amelioration schemes, but also implementation of institutional reforms, enhancement of customer-oriented services, introduction of world-approved mechanisms for effective and transparent management, including decentralization through establishing water user organizations and activating the role of farmers”-Mr. Otar Shamugia stated.