136 Farmers Receive Irrigated Water Under Drought Mitigation Programme
By: , July 6, 2020
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, makes his contribution to the 2020/21 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (July 1).The Full Story
To date, 275,712 gallons of irrigated water have been trucked to 136 farmers in 22 communities across the island under the recently instituted Drought Mitigation Programme.
This was disclosed by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, who informed that procurement of 500 water tanks is also in progress, and 2,000 quarter-acre drip-irrigation kits are to be provided in short order under the programme.
Mr. Hutchinson was making his contribution to the 2020/21 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (July 1).
The $194-million Drought Mitigation Programme, which got under way in May, is being implemented by the National Irrigation Commission. It forms part of the Ministry’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Recovery Programme, which is being financed with the support of $1 billion from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.
In the meantime, Mr. Hutchinson informed that as part of this recovery programme, $95 million is being provided to support poultry, pig, and small ruminant farmers and fishers, to equip them to recover from market changes under COVID.