Editorial: Together for Making Summer Season a Success
In statements that can be described as reassuring, news from the past few days included remarks by the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Professor Ismat Qureshi. He affirmed his ministry’s commitment to arrangements he described as necessary for the success of the upcoming summer agricultural season. He reviewed the outcomes of an important meeting of the committee for the success of the summer season, which included representatives from the states, financial institutions, and other relevant bodies. He also reviewed the results of his recent visit to Turkey, during which Sudan presented a number of priority projects, particularly in the areas of strategic contractual partnerships for irrigation projects. These are experiences that have yielded positive results in some of the country’s irrigation sector projects.
In the same vein, we hope that the Minister’s call to the government regarding the summer agricultural season will be transformed into an urgent plan, to be submitted as quickly as possible to the Council of Ministers of the Government of Hope for its approval and implementation. This is because, as we have seen, its content, if considered, approved, and implemented by the government, will contribute to securing the upcoming summer agricultural season by providing inputs and overcoming the usual and unforeseen obstacles, most notably the problems of fluctuating electricity supply that have continued to threaten pump-irrigated projects in the various sections and districts of the Gezira Scheme. Farmers and producers there are looking forward to a fourth season that will compensate for what they have lost due to the frequent power outages that affected the past three seasons, casting a negative shadow on people’s lives and livelihoods.
We mention this, while endorsing what the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation has stated, regarding the fruitful cooperation in the fields of food processing, gum arabic, and training in smart agriculture with the friendly nation of Turkey. We welcome the Agricultural Bank’s commitment, through its plan to finance the current summer season, and its announcement, as stated by the Minister, of contributing to the financing of forty percent of the targeted area of twenty-five million acres, with a focus on supporting agricultural institutions and associations, simplifying financing procedures, and facilitating their flow. This has been a recurring theme in all the memoranda and demands of farmers and producers.
With the summer season fast approaching, and with its crucial role in supporting the state and society’s recovery and reconstruction efforts, we look forward to:
Effective and urgent programs and realistic, successful plans. These plans should be developed with the participation of experts, scientists, and stakeholders to address existing needs, potential needs, and requirements, including irrigation, agricultural protection and extension services, ensuring electricity supply, providing seeds and fertilizers, and securing funding. And God guides to the right path.