Honduras seeks its own green revolution with irrigation project

Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernández has signed an agreement with Indian company Apollo International Limited to develop a large-scale irrigation project in the Jamastrán valley in the country's El Paraíso department.

"If India could undergo its own Green Revolution, we too want it here," said president Hernández in an official statement.

The project will provide irrigation for 3,757 hectares of land for the cultivation of a diverse range of crops, such as corn, rice and other basic grains, apples, beans, peppers, tomatoes and onions.

The funding will be provided with a US$22.5mn loan approved by the Export Import bank of India with the Honduran government.

"This region contributes to 20% of total grain production in the country, so that's why this news is so important, since it assures food security," the president of the Honduran farmers association, Luis Donaire, was quoted as saying local daily La Prensa.

The partnership includes the construction of six drip irrigation modules using water from the Hato, San Antonio and San Francisco rivers, where 300 smaller irrigation modules will also be built.

Works are expected to last 20 months and will benefit 900 farmers and generate around 11,000 new direct and indirect jobs.

On the prospects of future projects, President Hernández said:"Soon we will be seeing the results of international tenders for irrigation projects in Sulaco, Olomán [and] San Sebastián."