7Berkeh – Negin Akrami, Mostafa Sharifi: Determining the strategies of the agricultural sector and examining the farmers’ problems were the two most important issues in the first Agriculture Council of Gerash in the beginning of the new year.
Asghar Foroudi, The Governor of Gerash, pointed out in the meeting that Gerash county’s economic dependence on the agricultural sector is only 10%, and advised that, based on the potentials of this sector, this percent increase and outstrip the 90% share of services and industry sectors.
Mr. Governor described water shortage crisis as one of the main challenges that the country is facing and added that, “the optimal use of water resources and the improvement of production level are the most important issues in the agricultural sector. The main challenges in the agricultural sector are the issues of water and the implementation of the traditional irrigation systems. Therefore, the development of modern irrigation system is essential for protecting water resources and developing the agricultural sector.”
“It is dangerous that 93 percent of our water consumption is in agriculture”, said Mr. Foroudi, and emphasized that water shortage crisis has reached an alarming level throughout the country.
Morteza Fathi, a member of the City Council of Gerash, reminded the problem of unauthorized wells in Gerash: “the existence of 250 unauthorized wells and the extraction of millions of cubic meters of underground water in the city is a serious threat. These cases should be addressed legally, out of the ordinary procedure.”
Some words and phrases in this news story:
Agriculture Council: شورای کشاورزی
The Governor: فرماندار
Outstrip: پیشی گرفتن
services and industry sectors: بخشهای خدمات و صنعت
water shortage crisis: بحران کمبود آب
traditional irrigation systems: سیستم آبیاری سنتی
unauthorized wells: چاههای غیر مجاز