Romanian-American cooperation for development of irrigation system and of agricultural education in Romania

The development of the Romanian irrigation system, agricultural education and the transition to a "greener agriculture" were the main topics of discussion during a meeting between the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Adrian Chesnoiu, and a delegation led by David Muniz, the charge d'affaires of the United States Embassy in Bucharest, informs the relevant ministry (MADR), in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday.

The Minister of Agriculture stressed the importance of the strong partnership between the two states, especially during this period in which we are facing a significant increase in energy and gas prices domestically, and Russia's military aggression on Ukraine has created an even more difficult context.

"The development of the irrigation system in Romania has been a priority objective since taking office as a minister. Recently, amendments to the relevant legislation have been approved to allow the introduction of local irrigation systems or microsystems in farms so that more and more farmers have access to irrigation equipment to help them achieve high-level production. We want to increase the irrigable area, and our goal is to exceed 2 million irrigable hectares, compared to the 1.3 million irrigable hectares at present," underlined minister Adrian Chesnoiu.

Another topic of discussion was the partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Education regarding the financing of agricultural high schools through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which will focus, on the one hand, on the practical component and, on the other hand, the didactic one, aimed at adapting of the curriculum to the real needs of the farmers.

In reply, David Muniz specified that there are agricultural companies active on the Romanian market, with which a collaboration can be initiated in this direction, expressing his willingness to contribute to this important objective of our country. In this regard, discussions between MADR and the Embassy representatives will continue at expert level.

Another aspect discussed during the meeting was the measures for the transition to a "greener agriculture" and their capitalization through investments in solar energy, biomass or biogas. On this subject, the Minister explained that part of the Modernization Fund allocated to Romania will be directed to farmers and the food industry, so as to ensure the energy independence of these sectors.

At the end of the meeting, David Muniz expressed his full availability to collaborate for the benefit of farmers, appreciating their efforts to make their farms as competitive as possible on the international market.