To that end, President Yamandu Orsi signed a decree creating the Interministerial Executive Commission for Irrigation Affairs.

Secretary of the Presidency Alejandro Sanchez explained the government’s strategy on the issue during a presentation at the 120th Prado International Livestock Exhibition and Agroindustrial and Rural Commercial Show, the country’s largest fair in Montevideo.

There, he emphasized on the need for an irrigation bill to move forward the regulation and governance of the public system, boost investment, and create differential electricity rates that make these projects sustainable.

The main goal is to develop a National Irrigation Strategy and structure projects based on the experience of the last decade, which includes the promotion of multi-property dams, which reduce costs and allow for the creation of reserves, according to Sanchez.

The project, with the goal of reaching 300,000 hectares under irrigation, envisions energy transformation as a pillar of the strategy, with an important role for the state-owned electricity generation and distribution company, UTE.

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