Minister of Agriculture: In a maximum of one week the contract for the Siret – Bărăgan channel is signed
Field from Dobrogea. Photo source: dreamstime.com
The contract for the Siret-Bărăgan channel will be signed within a week, said the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday, Florin-Ionuț Barbu, according to Agerpres. In two months the work will begin on this construction, the minister said.
'If we talk about the Siret – Bărăgan channel, I was the promoter of implementing this program. Probably, in a maximum of one week the contract is signed and in two months the works will begin on the Siret Bărăgan channel, at least 35 km, where almost 400,000 hectares we will irrigate, on the fourth and fifth pumping, water we bring from the Danube, “Barbu said.
At the end of February, the minister declared for AGERPRES that there are commitment credits provided this year for the main irrigation infrastructure, including for the Siret-Bărăgan channel, which amounts to 2.8 billion lei, and for the 41 arrangements there are one billion euros.
The Siret – Bărăgan Magistral Channel, a project started in 1986 on the Siret river, between the Călimănești dam and Dridu Lake, had to be 198 kilometers long, and its construction was to bring economic benefits on three plans: providing water for irrigation in Bărăgan, reducing the risk of flooding in Siret.
In 2012 it was estimated that in order to carry out this project it would need an investment of 3.5 billion euros, and its completion could have ensured the irrigation of 10% of the agricultural land of Romania. This, however, entered a process of continuous degradation of the works in various phases of execution, being necessary the emergency intervention through rehabilitation, modernization and enhancement works.
The National Agency for Land Improvement (ANIF) shows that the achievement of this investment objective will allow the minimal irrigation of agricultural areas, as the water adduction is gravitational. Currently, the project is in stage I for the first 23 km of section I, with a length of 50 km, located in the area of Vrancea county.
