Regional State Building Irrigation Dams with over 13 Billion Birr

March 05 /2022 (ENA) Medium and small-scale irrigation dams are under construction in Oromia Regional State with an outlay of over 13 billion Birr.

Oromia Regional State Chief Administrator, Shimelis Abdisa and senior federal government officials, including Macroeconomic Adviser to the Prime Minister Girma Biru, and National Bank of Ethiopia Governor Yinager Dessie visited irrigated wheat farms today.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief Administrator said many farmers are now pumping water from rivers and irrigating wheat in the region.

According to him, about 20,000 high-powered and medium-sized water pumps have been distributed to farmers.

Wheat is being cultivated on over 355,000 hectares of land in the entire zones of Oromia, Shimelis pointed out, adding that about 270,000 hectares of land is being prepared for cultivation in the second-phase.

The region has also planned to irrigate one million hectares of wheat next dry season and the regional government is building irrigation dams and digging deep wells, it was learned.

Over the next four years, the chief administrator revealed that four million hectares of land would be cultivated through irrigation, freeing the region from dependency on rainfall.

National Bank Governor Yinager Dessie appreciated the wheat development in the region, adding  that “the achievements registered in the agricultural sector in Oromia region are promising.”

 He further stated that the practice of wheat farming through irrigation should be expanded in all regions of the country in order to replace imported commodities locally.

“We are establishing a rural financing scheme that makes available water pump motors, mechanization services and market linkages accessible to the farmers,” the governor stated.

Similarly, the other federal senior government officials lauded the ongoing dry season wheat irrigation in Oromia region and noted that tangible results are being registered.