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The Neckartal Dam Irrigation Scheme is set to receive N$10 million which is earmarked for irrigation development in the current financial year from the government. This was announced by the Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform (MAWLR) Minister Calle Schlettwein, who made the budget proposal of N$10 million.
The Neckartal Dam Irrigation Scheme is set to receive N$10 million which is earmarked for irrigation development in the current financial year from the government. This was announced by the Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform (MAWLR) Minister Calle Schlettwein, who made the budget proposal of N$10 million.
The new funds are part of the project’s second phase. The first phase cost the government more than N$5.6 billion in construction, making it the biggest dam in the country to collect water and be used for irrigation and farming purposes. The dam has a holding capacity of 857 million cubic meters.
The second phase is the Irrigation Project’s development, which entails acquiring land for the related water distribution infrastructure and irrigation area itself. Several farms in the proximity of the dam are earmarked to be acquired for all the related purposes of actualising a large-scale irrigation project, such as servitude, the balancing dam, water distribution infrastructure, and the irrigation area, said the Minister.
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He added that the government has so far secured 11,000 hectares of land of which 5,000 hectares will be used for irrigation, and the other for livestock farming and feedlots, among others. Schlettwein said his Ministry conducted a feasibility study in April 2010 to determine the suitability of irrigation soils. The total area of irrigable land is therefore estimated to be approximately 4,250ha or 85 percent of the required 5,000ha. He stated that additional suitable areas will still have to be confirmed to ensure a 5,000-ha irrigation area.
