El Consejo de Ministros approved on Tuesday a modernization project worth 21 million euros in the community of Santa Anaga, in the province of Huesca. The new infrastructure will save water, increase production, reduce costs, and improve the quality of life for farmers.
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food, Luis Planos, announced this decision of the Council of Ministers during his visit to the International Animal Production Fair (appearance) at the Zaragoza Fair. He explained that the work will be completed within a maximum period of 20 months.
Overall, there are 273 farmers and 2,714 hectares of crop beneficiaries in the municipalities of Almunders, Senés de Alcubierre, Tardie, Torralba de Argón, and Torres de Barbúes, in an area of Section 2 of Curros Canal, integrated into the Riegos del Alto Arag community.
«It is very important because it transforms an irrigation system based on ditches and open-air into a modernized irrigation system through pipelines, digitalized, and also using renewable energy, which is a significant energy-saving measure,» said Planas.
The main goals of this comprehensive irrigation modernization are water conservation, replacing splash irrigation, and reducing energy costs by constructing a photovoltaic system to supply the irrigation network.
This initiative will also lead to an increase in production, as the new system will allow for a more precise contribution of irrigation doses to the vegetative phase of each crop. This will improve the quality of life for farmers and ensure a sustainable future for farms in the area.
The project, with a 20-month execution period, aims to replace the damaged network of ditches and existing channels with a pressure irrigation system through pipelines, making it more efficient and preventing current water loss.
Additionally, it involves a battery of infrastructure that enables irrigators to have the necessary flows, including the construction of two regulatory floaters at the foot of the canal, a pumping station, and two high floaters.
All of this will be complemented by a network of pipelines for tracing, a remote control system allowing users to monitor their mobile contributions, and a photovoltaic solar park for self-consumption that will reduce energy costs.
Furthermore, this project is eligible for funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (Feader) under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-2027.
When asked about the exclusion of the provinces of Zaragoza and Teruel from the drought relief, the minister clarified that it was not due to the climatic phenomenon but rather the consequences from a production and marketing perspective, as well as their significance in the province.
In collaboration with the European Commission, the territories that experienced these consequences from a productive and sectoral standpoint were identified.
«These are the objective conditions, no one was excluded. These provinces were simply included as they effectively met these conditions,» he reiterated.
