France to provide Moldova with over 56 million euros to modernize irrigation systems in Călinești and Criulenii de Sus

The French Development Agency will provide the Republic of Moldova with a loan of 45 million euros and a grant of 11.2 million euros to rehabilitate the centralized irrigation systems in Călinești, Fălești district, and Criulenii de Sus, Criuleni district.

The Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy and European Integration approved today the consultative opinions for the signing of the loan and grant agreements necessary for the implementation of the project.

The project provides for the modernization of the water intake and distribution infrastructure for the Călinești irrigation system, located along the Prut River, and the Criulenii de Sus system, situated on the Dniester River.

The works will include rainwater collection, monitoring of public irrigation infrastructure, agricultural consulting services, and capacity-building measures for institutions responsible for water resource management and farmer support.

Authorities estimate that the rehabilitation of the two systems will allow the expansion of irrigated areas by at least 3,000 hectares and will help increase agricultural production by a minimum of 50% compared to the average of the last ten years.

The works will be carried out under the "Integrated Development Program for Agriculture and Irrigation" (iDRIP), designed to address structural problems in the agricultural sector of the Republic of Moldova. The program focuses in particular on the Călinești and Criulenii de Sus regions, where farmers face high climate risks, outdated irrigation infrastructure, limited access to finance, and low market integration.

According to the authorities, in the long term, the project is expected to contribute to strengthening the resilience of rural communities to climate change and to the sustainable development of agriculture.

After signing, the agreements are to be submitted to Parliament for ratification.