The tourist commune of the lake area of La Araucanía, has more than 9 thousand inhabitants of Mapuche origin, in addition to 22 communities and 3 Mapuche associations, who benefited from irrigation and drainage projects thanks to an agreement between CONADI and the local municipality .
With a visit led by the National Director of CONADI, Ignacio Malig Meza, the execution of 23 irrigation and drainage projects for Mapuche communities in the Pucón commune was verified in the field, thanks to an agreement between CONADI and the local municipality.
“We have traveled to the beautiful rural areas of Pucón to visit one of the 23 beneficiaries of CONADI’s irrigation agreement with the Municipality of Pucón. I want to thank the mayor for the excellent execution of the resources that we have given them, 241 million pesos, which have allowed the Mapuche farmers of the commune to have access to modern irrigation and drainage systems, thus moving from subsistence agriculture to agriculture. possibility of marketing their products and increasing the productivity and development of their lands ”, explained Ignacio Malig Meza, National Director of CONADI.
Historical fact
“This is really historic,” added Carlos Barra Matamala, Mayor of Pucón, “because we are joining the will of the State and the municipalities to deliver projects that produce tremendous satisfaction in each user, because they are an average of 10 million pesos for each system of irrigation, considering that they can have many crops, but if they do not have irrigation, they have nothing, which from now on is an overridden issue ”.
“We know that this investment will bring many good things, we have drip irrigation, which increases production, and also includes a fertilization system. In addition, each project is powered by solar panels, they do not need electricity, so it is a benefit for the family and the community ”, indicated Ana Paola Hormazábal, CONADI’s National South Subdirector (s).
“It’s always possible”
“This irrigation system benefits me a lot, because there is no water in my sector, so now I was able to access a large pond to collect rainwater and pumps to irrigate,” added beneficiary Lucía Paredes, from the Huepil sector, highlighting that “the Women should take advantage of our land because there is always help, it can always be done, I myself do not believe it because I started from nothing, but little by little we progress, we can work with our children and tell them to work our land, do not sell it.
“This is wonderful. We have had our raspberry, currant and sarsaparilla plantations for 25 years, and we dreamed of having an irrigation system. I want to thank all the people who made this project possible and I am excited to think that now we are going to have better harvests, we are also very happy with the visit of the mayor and the national director of CONADI who came to know our project, “he said. Juana Lefiqueo, beneficiary of the agreement between CONADI and the Municipality of Pucón to finance irrigation and drainage projects.
Agreement with Pucón
It is worth mentioning that the agreement established between the National Indigenous Development Corporation, CONADI, and the municipality of Pucón, is part of the program for the construction of irrigation and drainage works for indigenous people of the Land and Water Fund, which benefits directly of indigenous families and communities.
In this case, 23 families benefited from various rainwater accumulation, water rights and drip irrigation projects, which were fully financed by CONADI and managed locally by the municipality of Pucón.
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