
The implementation of the 5-year Land Reclamation Program will require more than 4.27 billion lei.
The Land Reclamation program to ensure sustainable soil management for 2021-2025, as well as the action plan for the implementation of the first stage of the program (2021-2023) are published in Monitorul Oficial (Official Journal of Moldova). The program is aimed at bringing the research and education system in line with the priorities of the agricultural sector, preventing and combating soil erosion (2.5 thousand hectares of agricultural land), reclamation of soils on 68.5 thousand hectares of agricultural land, preserving and increasing soil fertility on an area of 5 thousand hectares of agricultural land. The total budget of the program is 4 billion 278.3 million leva, of which about 1% will be allocated from the state budget, the rest of the funds are planned to be attracted from external sources. It should be noted that the most expensive component of the program is soil reclamation (98% of the total budget). The program will be implemented in two stages. At the first stage - in 2021-2023. (164.5 million lei) it is planned to implement a set of measures to combat soil erosion; specific work is planned to compensate for the moisture deficit by irrigating land; removing excess water from the soil and its surface (drainage); construction and operation of hydraulic structures; restoration of alkaline and salty soils. Action plan for 2024-2025 will be developed later. Coordination and monitoring of the Action Plan implementation will be provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, and all government agencies involved in the program must submit a report on the degree of achievement of the program's targets twice a year. // 22.01.2021 - InfoMarket.