Agriculture Secretay promotes sustainability

Santa Maria water control now operational

The Azores Government portal reports that the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, António Ventura, highlighted today the importance of projects that promote the sustainability of the agricultural sector, “namely in the supply of agricultural water which, as a natural resource, is not inexhaustible.” This is of particular importance since “all mechanisms of abstraction, transport and distribution infrastructures need to be efficient and, consequently, water losses must be minimised.”

The government official spoke after IROA SA, in partnership with the Municipality of Vila do Porto and the Santa Maria Agricultural Association, implemented last Monday a control system for agricultural water supply with consumption control equipment.

Following the final technical inspection carried out by Medidaçor, all seven control systems for the distribution of agricultural water on the island of Santa Maria are now operating. The implementation of another four control systems is still planned for this year, thus completing all water distribution points connected to the public network of the Vila de Porto Municipal Council.

For António Ventura, the importance of the livestock sector in the regional economy and its strong dependence on the availability of water requires the Regional Government to “take measures as well as to adopt technical and political solutions aimed at a more rational use of this increasingly scarce resource.”

“This is a project carried out by IROA, SA to be replicated on other islands of the Azores,” the government official said, adding that similar initiatives have already begun to be implemented on the islands of Terceira and São Miguel. The implementation of the entire agricultural water supply system in the municipality of Velas, São Jorge Island, was already awarded last April and is due to be completed by the end of this year.