Irrigation move commended

Press, 12 April 1978, Page 3

Irrigation move commended

New Zealand’s greatest resource remained its ability to grow grass, crops, and horticultural products at a gSn e h«H IOW CoSt> and irrihad an lm P°rtant part to play, __ directly or inin i m Proving this resource, said the Minister! ta tv A Bncul ‘ ure (Mr Mac'SlU'" Asi,b “ r "" wa ? s P ea king on the r^'" 8 day ot an irrigation! conference at which it is hoped to form a national irrigation association. About , Persons were present at yesterday’s sessions. Mr Maclntyre said that he could see an invaluable role tor the association in its intention to be a forum for the exchange of ideas and increased understanding of irrigation by the public generally, as well as those interested in the technique. This role he regarded as most important, as it had to be made clear to the public, as well as to themselves, that any proposed irrigation scheme would be both economic and efficient. “I will look to you to take some of the weight off my back m formulating priorities,” Mr Maclntyre said. "Too often decisions can be made for the wrong reason if you do not have a well balanced judgment on priorities.” He congratulated the organisers of the conference and the proposers of the association on having called people together m the midst of the worst drought in living memory. In lighter vein, however, in a reference to the change in the appearance of the country after iecent rains and a limited amount of growth that-has followed it, Mr Maclntyre said that as his party had flown down from the North Island, they had taken off their dark glasses because everything seemed to be so delightfully green.

Mr Maclntyre said that the area west of the Rangitata diversion race in MidCanterbury had now also been declared an area for drought relief. Irrigation had always been of more importance to (Canterbury than any other (part of the country, with the possible exception of Otago, ! but this was changing. (Today there were demands (from North Cape to Bluff. There were now more than 100,000 ha of land in Canterbury served by irrigation schemes completed or under construction, and it was estimated that a further 300,000 ha could be irrigated in large-scale schemes in the province. Officers of his Ministry had told him that there had been an upsurge in interest in irrigation in Canterbury and Otago from farmers affected by the drought. Over the country as a whole, Mr Maclntyre said, there were now about 150,000 ha of irrigated land; and it had been estimated that this year there were 500,000 ha in some stage of planning for irrigation schemes.