The construction of the Várzea de Odeleite Irrigation Network, in an investment of 1,7 million euros, has already been awarded at the Castro Marim council meeting on 31 July.
It is an investment of 1.717.170,20 euros, included in operation 3.4.1 “Development of efficient irrigation”, of the PDR2020 program, and 100% financed (co-financed by the EAFRD, within the scope of Portugal 2020).
The initiative was born after a contract-program established between the Municipality of Castro Marim and the Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Algarve (DrapAlgarve), approved by the Minister of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development, Luís Capoulas Santos.
The irrigation system of Várzea de Odeleite «was an ambitious project for more than 20 years, since the inauguration of the Odeleite Dam, in 1997, which was intended for the supply of water for human consumption, a function that has been widely assumed in these decades. , and for irrigation systems”, recalls the municipality.
The Sotavento Algarvio Hydro-agricultural Development depends on the Dam, which benefits an area of around 8.600 hectares of agricultural land in the municipalities of Castro Marim, Tavira, Vila Real de Santo António and Olhão, «but paradoxically it does not integrate the land downstream of the stream. Since then, Odeleite has devised an irrigation system for the land on the banks of the river downstream».
The total area to benefit from the system will be approximately 132 hectares, as defined by the competent authorities, located downstream of the Dam and developing along the Ribeira de Odeleite.
The construction of the irrigation network will “improve the production conditions of farmers in that area, even allowing for crop diversification”.
The executive of the Castro Marim City Council believes that «this work, in parallel with the construction of the River Beach at the Odeleite dam, will bring a new economic, social and even business dynamic to the parish of Odeleite, but above all to Baixo Guadiana».
This investment benefits the land with the best agricultural aptitude in the municipality of Castro Marim.
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