The Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (MIDAGRI) announced on Apr. 23 that more than 12,500 rural families will benefit from new water harvesting and storage projects in 14 regions across Peru. The initiatives, carried out through AGRO RURAL as part of the Recarga Hídrica project, aim to improve water availability for agriculture by building qochas (traditional ponds), reservoirs, and channels to better capture and use rainwater.
These efforts are expected to enable the collection, infiltration, and storage of nearly two million cubic meters of rainwater. This is intended to support irrigation for crops such as potatoes, maize, beans, peas, cereals, and cultivated pastures while also strengthening livestock activities.
As part of a public investment project titled “Improvement of Water Recharge Services and Rainwater Use in 14 Departments,” MIDAGRI plans to build 41 qochas, construct 81 reservoirs, and lay more than nine kilometers of channels to bring water to agricultural areas. Additionally, the recovery of approximately 5,700 hectares of degraded grasslands is planned. These actions will directly benefit small-scale family farmers in regions including Áncash, Apurímac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huánuco, Junín, La Libertad, Lima, Moquegua, Pasco and Puno.
For the year 2026 alone a budget allocation equivalent to S/42 million has been designated for these interventions with a reported physical progress rate at just over forty-seven percent so far. The ministry said that qochas will capture about 1.89 million cubic meters benefiting over two thousand seven hundred families; meanwhile reservoirs and channels will store an additional eighty-two thousand cubic meters serving almost four thousand more families.
AGRO RURAL is also working on pasture recovery which should improve livestock production opportunities while helping nearly six thousand small producers access local or regional markets. Over its seven-year execution period the sector expects these measures could reach more than ninety-seven thousand rural producers across seventy micro-watersheds located in eighty-seven districts throughout fourteen departments with technical assistance planned for thirty-seven hundred producers.
The Ministry promotes cultural and social well-being through rural inclusion programs focused on food security according to the official website. It operates from its central headquarters in Jesús María as well as decentralized offices nationwide according to the official website. The Ministry functions within Peru’s Executive Branch according to the official website advancing strategies for sustainable agricultural development according to the official website serving agricultural producers throughout Peru according to the official website. It supports legislative initiatives by issuing regulations aimed at strengthening sustainable agriculture according to the official website after being created by legislation in 2020 according to the official website.
