The Oromiya Irrigation Authority said that it is intensively working to cultivate over 1.9 million hectares of land via irrigation.
Head with the Authority, Seifedin Mehadi, told Walta that the authority has finalized preparations to harvest over 245 million quintals of production in three irrigation phases.
Fruit and vegetable take the lion’s share of production, he added.
Seifedin noted that during the previous irrigation season it could be possible to benefit over 2 million farmers; following intensive preparations undertaken by the authority it is targeted to benefit over 2.67 million farmers as of this year alone.
So far the authority has build a dam that can hold over 1.5 million cubic meters of water and has dug 700 ponds in some areas of the region where there is insufficient rainfall. Besides, the authority is setting a strategic plan to produce animal fodder which could benefit many in this regard.
The authority called up on farmers to strengthen water preservation, pond digging and watersheds works to maximize productivity at large.