The southern Peruvian region of Ica seeks to increase cotton production through harnessing rain water by implementing a new aquifer project that would be benefitting cotton producers in the region, reports Peruvian news agency andina.
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt) from which groundwater can be extracted using water wells.
Nicanor Toro Levano, head of the department for agricultural development in Ica (Regional Agrarian Ica) said that through this project the agricultural department of the region aims to establish pools which could store rain water with leaks that would be able to increase the water capacity of the soil used for cotton cultivation.
For this purpose, the Regional Agrarian Ica is currently also working with the National Water Authority (ANA), developer of the aquifer project for creating a legal device that allows cotton farmers to freely access groundwater, he added.
Mr. Levano said that implementing the drip irrigation technology in the region would be able to increase cotton cultivation from the existing 60 quintals (1 quintal= 100 kg) to 100 quintals per hectare.
As of now, around 22,300 hectares of land in the region is cultivated for cotton and if the project is successful the cotton acreage in Ica could be significantly increased, he added.