“Belize’s agriculture sector needs better water-use equipment,” says water technologies company

Published by BBN Staff at June 9, 2020

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Posted: Tuesday, June 9, 2020. 9:09 am CST.

By BBN Staff: The United States-based water technologies company, Fluence Corporation, says that Belize’s agricultural sector needs to make changes in water-use practices, including the implementation of advanced water treatment equipment to survive the ongoing drought and become more resilient to drought conditions in the future.

Fluence published an article on its website today, highlighting the 2019 drought, which was described by the Government of Belize as “one of the worst droughts in Belize’s history,” and the fact that drought conditions are likely to continue due to the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Keeping with the recommendation made to farmers and ranchers by the National Meteorological Service of Belize to employ water conservation measures, Fluence explained that smaller, drought-stricken communities near coastlines are ideal points for smaller-scale water reuse and desalination operations near the point of need.

“This type of decentralized treatment allows for flexibility not possible with large centralized plants, which require expensive pipe networks and in the case of desalination plants, run the risk of becoming obsolete with the return of rain, before they’re paid for,” Fluence said.

In an interview last week, Chief Executive Officer of Agriculture, Jose Alpuche, said that the rains and floods that occurred in late May and early June, still do not mean that the drought has ended and that the Ministry has to monitor the situation closely. Alpuche noted that the Ministry is working on sourcing funding from separate sources but amounting to over $30 million to assist farmers with recovery from the floods and implementing climate-smart technologies into their farming practices.

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