Development of irrigation agriculture

The major contraint for most of these intensive culture is the availablility of water. Since 1977 the government has made tremendous efforts to increase irrigation agriculture, with the result that around 30 % of the total ulitilised agricultural area in 1996 was irrigated. The big governmental irrigation projects consumed around 50 % of the governments budget in 1996, but the still lasting drought in the area puts high pressure on farmers. The biggest project is the "Southern Conveyor Project". This dam has a capacity of 110000 Bil. m3 of water, which is transported from the South-western coast to the South-eastern coast into the regions Paralimni and Kokkinkhria. One of the later projects is the "Paphos Irrigation Project". The dam has a water capacity of 51 Bil m3, which helps to irrigate around 4000 ha of land.

Permanent crops which are mainly irrigated are citrus fruits, bananas, Kiwis, Avocados and other sub-tropical fruits, of which are 90-95 % are under irrigation. On the south-east coast 99 % of the vegetable area is under irrigation.

(See map)

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