Marat Zyabbarov reported on the status and development prospects of the republic's irrigation system.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan - Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Zyabbarov reported on the status and development prospects of the irrigation system in Tatarstan today at a national meeting held in the Government House of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The meeting was chaired by the Rais of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov. The Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan, Farid Mukhametshin, and the Prime Minister of Tatarstan, Aleksey Pesoshin, participated in the meeting. All municipal districts were connected to the meeting via videoconference.
In recent years, 37,000 hectares of irrigated land have been restored in the republic, 487 hydroelectric power stations have been repaired, over 280 km of pipelines have been laid, and over 300 units of irrigation equipment have been purchased. Over the past five years, 13.8 billion rubles have been invested in land reclamation, including 5.2 billion rubles in 2025. A further 3.8 billion rubles are planned for 2026.
Currently, both federal and republican programs are in place to develop land reclamation. One of these is the Federal Targeted Investment Program (FTIP) of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture. This program includes federal facilities owned by the Privolzhskmeliovodkhoz. Under the FTIP, work is fully financed by federal funds. Under this program, 10 facilities covering 5,400 hectares have been reconstructed over the past five years. A new facility has been built on 2,900 hectares of irrigated land. In 2026, work will continue on the Arsk and Chistopol irrigation systems covering 3,500 hectares. 955 million rubles in federal funds have been allocated for these systems.
There are still federal irrigation systems in the republic that require restoration. This represents an additional 5,000 hectares of irrigated land. Marat Zyabbarov called on district heads and farm managers, in conjunction with the Privolzhskmeliovodkhoz, to make a decision within a month on including these projects in the program.
The federal project "Involvement and Comprehensive Reclamation of Agricultural Lands" is also in effect, reimbursing 50% of farms' costs for construction and reconstruction of irrigated plots. Under this program, 5,500 hectares were brought into use in 2025 at six farms in the republic. The estimated cost of these projects is over 2.5 billion rubles. All areas are equipped with irrigation equipment. For 2026, all projects submitted under this federal project, covering a total of 4,800 hectares, have been selected by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture. Subsidies totaling 762 million rubles are allocated.
In addition to federal programs, a number of activities are being implemented through the republican budget. One of the most important areas is the major repairs and construction of hydraulic structures. This program is successfully operating, maintaining annual funding of 150 million rubles. This allows for the provision of water sources for all irrigation systems under construction, as well as the restoration of hydraulic structures in need of repair, with additional inputs to irrigated lands. In 2025, work was carried out at four sites to supply water to 1,400 hectares.
Furthermore, 70% of the costs associated with the purchase of irrigation equipment is reimbursed for the newly commissioned irrigated lands. In 2025, a total of 119 pivot and reel irrigation machines were purchased by farms under the irrigation programs.