Agriculture Ministry Approves Water System Development and Land Consolidation Projects Covering Over 500,000 Rai
The Agriculture Ministry approved 42 water system and land consolidation projects covering over 500,000 rai nationwide to strengthen agricultural water security and support farmer livelihoods across all regions.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has approved 42 water system development and agricultural land consolidation projects covering over 500,000 rai nationwide, established to create sustainable water security for agriculture. Deputy Permanent Secretary Kritsana Uttamawethin presided over the first 2025 meeting of the subcommittee for water system and land consolidation planning at the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters and via Zoom, with participation from Kittiporn Chueasuk, director of the Central Land Consolidation Office under the Royal Irrigation Department, and representatives from relevant agencies. The meeting reviewed project development approaches for water management and land consolidation in the agricultural sector and tracked previous implementation progress.
Kritsana revealed that the meeting reviewed performance under the Agricultural Land Consolidation Act of 2015. Between 2017 and 2024, 306 projects were implemented, covering over 1.9 million rai of beneficiary area. These comprised 279 water system development projects covering approximately 1.7 million rai and 27 land consolidation projects covering 178,312 rai.
The meeting approved 42 projects for 2025, covering a total development area of 504,216 rai. These include 41 water system development projects under Section 18, covering 456,728 rai, and one land consolidation project under Section 31, covering 47,488 rai, distributed across all regions of the country. The projects aim to improve water management efficiency, support agricultural cultivation, and enhance farmers' quality of life, with findings to be presented to the Central Land Consolidation Committee.
The Ministry of Agriculture, through the Central Land Consolidation Office and Royal Irrigation Department, has comprehensively gathered and analyzed project data, including area boundaries, locations, water source connectivity, and assessments of engineering feasibility, social impact, and project viability to maximize benefits for farmers and communities while ensuring sustainable agricultural water security.
Kritsana emphasized in the meeting that water system and land consolidation project development must align with the country's economic development goals and national economic and social development plans, ensuring water infrastructure investments maximize benefits to the agricultural sector. He requested that the subcommittee comprehensively review plans while considering area potential and appropriate land use for each region's context, and instructed relevant agencies to implement plans targeting 500,000 rai of development area concretely, with close monitoring of progress.
