Mauritian youth urged to embrace agriculture
Plaine Magnien, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritian Agro-Industry and Food Security Minister Mahen Seeruttun, on Thursday urged the youth to embrace agriculture so that the island can become self-sufficient in food production, PANA reported from here.
He said government is providing several incentives for the youth to enable them develop interest in the agricultural sector.
The Minister was speaking at a handing over ceremony of small scale drip irrigation system to small farmers in Plaine Magnien, 30 km south of the capital.
Minister Seeruttun underlined that small farmers across the island will benefit from the Gravity-Fed Drip Irrigation System which will cover an area of about 2000m2 and which forms part of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)-RAF5079 Project.
“It has many advantages as it requires no pump and is energy-saving unlike the pressurised drip irrigation system which requires an electric or petrol driven pump," he said.
Other benefits are: low pressure and low discharge of water, no wastage of water, direct flow of water to the root zone, improved crop yield and quality, low application of fertilisers through fertigation, and lower labour cost.
Furthermore, the Minister reiterated government’s commitment to give a new dynamism to the agricultural sector and seek measures that have been implemented to tackle the challenges faced by the sector, namely the Use of Pesticides Bill, provision of additional funds for grants to farmers and various training programmes.
In the same vein, Mahen Seeruttun also announced the construction of 100 sheltered farms across the island - 50 will be constructed this year and the remaining 50 next year.
“The purpose is to reduce the rate of imported fruits and vegetables, and to boost local production," he emphasised.
-0- PANA NA/VAO 21March2019
