Ecobreves – MEXICO: Irrigation Plan to Fight Climate Change's Effects

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MEXICO CITY, Nov 1 2010 (IPS) - Renewing water pumping equipment, rehabilitating wells and using technology in irrigation are the steps necessary to mitigate the impacts of climate change and adapt Mexico's agriculture to the new reality, propose two environmental organizations. El Barzón and Oxfam Mexico have proposed the creation of a governmental fund for energy and water to finance these policies and contribute to the government's goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions 50 million tons by 2012.

“The inefficiency of the pumping equipment explains the great use and waste of electricity, which has been increasing by an average of six percent annually in the agricultural sector,” activist Alfonso Ramírez, president of El Barzón, told Tierramérica.

Mexico each year generates 709 million tons of greenhouse-effect carbon emissions, of which six percent come from agriculture, according to government figures.