Modern irrigation techniques will mean rationalisation of water consumption and the achievement of sustainable development.
This statement by Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdul A’tai came during a meeting with the Ministry Advisor Engineer Khaled Abdulatif to follow up the implementation of modern irrigation projects nationwide, an official statement said on Tuesday.
It is up to farmers to switch to modern irrigation methods, thereby flood irrigation of 3.7 million feddans (acres) will be phased out no over the next three years, the minister added.
Ministry affiliated bodies have been organising a series of conferences with the coordination of the Agriculture Ministry, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and the Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE) to renovate and line canals to be compatible with modern irrigation methods, the minister said.
Meanwhile, the ministries of water resources and irrigation, agriculture, and finance, alongside the NBE and AGE have signed a co-operation protocol for sustainable development planning in agriculture, of which the lynchpin will be the provision of technical and financial support to modernise irrigation.
