{"id":271319,"date":"2026-03-30T11:05:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T15:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=271319"},"modified":"2026-03-30T11:07:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T15:07:40","slug":"subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Subsidised Irrigation Programme to Cut Farmers\u2019 Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The government is preparing to roll out a subsidised drip irrigation programme aimed at reducing farming costs and improving water efficiency, Agriculture Minister Anthony Smith Jr. said.<\/p>

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Smith said the initiative, developed in partnership with the Department of Environment and the Central Marketing Corporation (CMC), is designed to address one of the biggest challenges facing farmers in Antigua and Barbuda \u2014 access to affordable irrigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have just launched a project with the Ministry of Environment\u2026 to be able to bring in some drip irrigation for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>

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Under the programme, irrigation systems will be imported at reduced cost and made available to farmers at subsidised prices through the CMC.<\/p>

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\u201cWe will be able to\u2026 sell this to our farmers\u2026 for a very, very, very reduced cost,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister said the initiative comes as Antigua and Barbuda continues to grapple with dry conditions and the high cost of water management in agriculture.<\/p>

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\u201cI think as well that will go a long way in helping us to reduce the cost of the irrigation system going forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith indicated that the rollout is expected to begin shortly, with supplies likely to arrive within weeks.<\/p>

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\u201cI would want to imagine maybe within the next month or so we should be able to start that programme,\u201d he said.<\/p>

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The irrigation push forms part of a wider strategy to strengthen food security by improving productivity, lowering input costs and helping farmers adapt to increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government is preparing to roll out a subsidised drip irrigation programme aimed at reducing farming costs and improving water efficiency, Agriculture Minister Anthony Smith Jr. said. Smith said the initiative, developed in partnership with the Department of Environment and the Central Marketing Corporation (CMC), is designed to address one of the biggest challenges facing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":270506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-271319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSubsidised Irrigation Programme to Cut Farmers\u2019 Costs - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Subsidised Irrigation Programme to Cut Farmers\u2019 Costs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The government is preparing to roll out a subsidised drip irrigation programme aimed at reducing farming costs and improving water efficiency, Agriculture Minister Anthony Smith Jr. said. Smith said the initiative, developed in partnership with the Department of Environment and the Central Marketing Corporation (CMC), is designed to address one of the biggest challenges facing […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-30T15:05:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-30T15:07:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/smith1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Subsidised Irrigation Programme to Cut Farmers\u2019 Costs\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-30T15:05:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-30T15:07:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/\"},\"wordCount\":253,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1546\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/smith1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/subsidised-irrigation-programme-to-cut-farmers-costs\/\",\"name\":\"Subsidised Irrigation Programme to Cut Farmers\u2019 Costs - 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