QUITO — Ecuador's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has implemented the Technified Irrigation Project (PIT) across the country, providing advanced irrigation systems to more than 6,000 families and 6,300 hectares of farmland.
The World Bank and the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development (AECID) financed and provided technical assistance for the initiative, designed to counter climate change, deforestation and soil degradation that have reduced water availability and made rainy seasons less predictable.
Small farmers in Ecuador have historically used water inefficiently, limiting crop and livestock yields. Johannes Jansen, a senior agricultural economist at the World Bank, said technified irrigation has transformed production. He cited a dairy farmer whose milk output per cow increased from six or seven liters per day to 15 liters daily after adopting sprinkler-irrigated pastures, allowing the farmer to double his daily income.
On the coast, cocoa farmers have seen annual harvests double from around 500 kilos to 1,000 kilos for export, Jansen said.
A concrete canal built in the Palo Marcado parish of El Oro province delivers 211 liters of water per second to 241 users, primarily cocoa and banana producers. A technified sprinkler irrigation system implemented in the same community benefited 37 cocoa farmers.
Luis Pineda, a beneficiary from the Solano Branch, said his farm's production improved noticeably after the system was installed.
Only a small proportion of Ecuadoran territory is currently cultivated, with much of the country preserved as forest reserves and wildlife habitats. A separate program by Interoc provides up to $6 million in financing and technology access for small-scale corn producers.
