Tiraspol, March, 19. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Increasing of food safety, sustainable rural development and creating a base for the promotion of agricultural tourism were amongst this year top overall priorities for the Ministry of Agriculture. This was stated at a meeting of the extended board of the department with the participation of the top public officials.
As the PMR President Vadim Krasnoselski noted, it is very important to increase the republic’s food self-sufficiency to the level of 60%.
“We must grow basic foodstuffs ourselves,” the head of state stressed, noting that there are domestic market demands for this.
In his opinion, rational use of land resources is an important factor for the implementation of this goal.
“It is necessary to provide for a simplified procedure and mechanism for depriving the right to use land for those who use it inexpediently, trying to profit by sub-leasing this land, who shows very poor results deliberately, when the land starts to overcome with weeds,” the head of state added.
Speaking about the second priority, the President outlined that the program for the development of rural settlements will be continued.
“It is impossible to imagine a modern village without good roads, medical care, without sports field, school and preschool institutions, cultural centers. Therefore, no matter how difficult, we will follow the path of the capital investment fund program implementation in terms of being provided with equipment in rural territories year after year,” the head of state said.
According to the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Efimy Koval, the land-reclamation complex development is a major impetus for agriculture.
He noted that last year the actual irrigation coverage increased from 9,568 hectares to 11,077.95 hectares.
“In 2018 138.4 thousand m³ more water was supplied for irrigation than in 2017. There is a positive growth trend in irrigated areas, and in 2019 it is planned to bring them up to 14,000 hectares,” the head of the department said.
Efimy Koval emphasized that the expansion of irrigated areas directly depends on the tariff policy. Two years ago, the price for irrigation was reduced from 90 to 70 kopecks per cubic meter. This allowed land users to connect to irrigation systems more actively.
Summing up the results of the board, the President Vadim Krasnoselski emphasized that the land is the main natural wealth of the state.
“The welfare of the republic and its economy will depend largely on the land. It is the land and everything associated with it - both processing and production – that should make a significant contribution to our republic`s GDP,” the President concluded.
