PROJECT CONCEPT

Name:Promotion of modern engineering and management technologies for rational use of water resources and soil moisture, including through application of small-scale irrigation schemes

Implementing agency: Office for combating the consequences of global climate changes in agriculture;

Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry;

e-mail:

tel/fax: + 373 22 221586

Duration:3 years

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

Republic of Moldova is characterized by a wide variability of agro-climatic conditions, including rainfall amounts from region to region and from season to season. On the other hand, the fact that most water resources are concentrated in the two large basins of the transboundary rivers Dniester and Prut, represents one of the main constraints for development of irrigated agriculture, mainly due to limited access of most farmers to stable water sources.Rehabilitation of irrigation systems, especially of underground networks of the basins of the two rivers, is a priority activity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.But the implementation of such a strategic objective requires considerable investments and a long time period.At the same time, it is worth to note that such activities may affect the interests of some communities and even separate agricultural units, which may escalate into serious social and economic conflicts, and that is why this issue requires a special approach and a comprehensive feasibility study.

In the context of the above-mentioned, the project aims to develop three small-scale irrigation systems to demonstrate the practices of rationale use of available water sources and soil moisture, thus helping to solve the following problems:

Prolonged seasonal droughts and their impacts on natural resources.Moldova has faced some very severe droughts in the past decade, which generated huge losses for farmers.Long dry periods have caused sharp decreases of flows in all basins and watercourses of the country, which significantly reduced the effectiveness of already defectiveirrigation systems. All this had a negative impact on agricultural output and hence on the population welfare, especially in rural areas.The most affected were the most vulnerable social layers.

Poor management of water resources.Local communities must urgently review the practice of agricultural land planning and hence the use of resources to ensure environmental sustainability and long-term agricultural production.Practically all water basins are in a poor condition and in most cases even in a state of advanced decay.The Government with its central and local institutions makes some efforts to improve the situation but because of the isolated nature of these measures, there is no appreciable impact.These efforts require continuity and a long-term approach.It is necessary to develop intensive activities for rehabilitation of river basins in close cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, Ministry of Environment, the Agency "Moldova Waters”, the State Forestry Service “Moldsilva”, public authorities and local communities.Moreover, some of the existing irrigation systems are already affected by salinisation and soil erosion.

Inefficient use of water in agriculture.There are still irrigation systemsspread over all area, especially in vegetable and technical crops, fact that reduces the efficiency of water use below 30%.In addition, the lack of facilities for capturingrain water and surface leakagesduring irrigation, further diminishes the effectiveness of used practices.

Depletion of underground water resources.In the absence of surface water sources, people resort to groundwaterfor satisfying their needs, including irrigation.Pumping water from artesian wells, practice that is rapidly increasing from year to year, leads to depletion of deep groundwater resources and thinning of water layer.This phenomenon hides serious risks both for agriculture and for future health and welfare of the rural population, especially of the one with no access to centralized water systems.

Weak institutional capacity and poor involvement of local communities.Bad management, poor institutional capacity and lack of political will of the former government to address the use of water resources in a systemic manner, is a common challenge for all central and local institutions in the country.Specialized departments lack skilled and well trained specialists in modern technologies and management practices of water resources, while existing specialists are more concerned with maintaining current irrigation schemes than with their development.So basically, there is no ability to conduct technical studies and prepare projects well justified economically and scientifically.Moreover, irrigation systems,including related field services, are designed and provided separately from agriculture by different agencies and users. Interaction or exchange of information between community and government institutions is still quite weak at the local level.

PURPOSE OF PROJECT

The project aims to establish a major demonstration network of modern practices of sustainable management of aquatic resources, including application of small-scale irrigation with low water and energy consumption, and agricultural technologies that enable conservation and more rational use of soil moisture.The network will consist of three irrigation systems installed in the southern, central and northern regions of the republic, which will include all elements of a closed water circuit for crop irrigation.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the projectconsists in providing technical and financial assistance to develop a rational management of water resources and soil moisture at local level to ensure: a) improved access to water for agricultural users and consumers in the respective area; b) increased water use efficiency by combining modern engineering, management and farmingpractices; c) replication in other areas and communities of the country of local capacities developed during the project and stimulation of farmers to implement similar schemes and plans for development and rational use of water resources.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project will select three objects in the southern, central and northern regions, where will be organized complex water management systems, with the involvement of local authorities, communities, individual farmers and farmers’ associations, consumers and other water users.Besides the fact that project activities will significantly contribute to the sustainable development of the respective communities, the installed engineering and management units will be used as a model for policy makers and water users from other regions and communities of the country.

The project will include four major components:

  1. Strengthening the water capturing capacity by proper planning of existing water accumulations and courses,and also by developing additional facilities such as, for example, building pools in lowlands and/or hilltops for accumulating rain water for irrigation.
  2. Development of small-scale irrigation schemes using technologies and equipment with minimum water and energy consumption (e.g. drip irrigation, including where possible use of gravitational force to avoid water pumping).
  3. Use of agricultural practices that will preserve and fully use soil moisture (minimal soil cultivation and giving up to plowing where possible; leaving in the field of plant debris resulting from collection of technical crops, including straw, corncobs and other comminuted secondary products; practicing crop rotation and cultivation in strips; planting of alignments and forest shelterbelts; grassing between rows in vineyards and orchards, etc.)
  4. Strengthening institutional and regulatory capacities.The project aims to build the capacity of agricultural and aquatic resources management institutions by providing technical assistance on advanced engineering and management practices, standards and EU regulations on use and protection of water resources, improving the regulatory framework at national and local levels, etc. At those three demonstration units will be organized awareness and training activities for policy makers, individual farmers, leaders of farmers’ associations and water users.

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