Evening star., 1941-08-03
Mexican Irrigation
Project
. BIZ Frederic J. Hdskin.

In the Western Hemisphere Is now heing
undertaken by Mexico. In fact, the
project has advanced to such a stage
that thousands of Mexican farmers, who
in recent years had about given up hope
of continuing on the soil, see the reality
of dream that is as old as Mexico
itself. Three million acres Of farm land
and 10000 families are to be affected.
| These millions of acres, long the very
emblem of thirst, are soon to be green
with crops.
| Although irrigation in Mexico is not
new, having been practiced there since
the days of the Mayas and the Aztecs,
no country wide undertaking was inau-
gurated until the present President,
| Avila Camacho, set out to do the job.
| And while the whole of Mexico will not,
or cannot be affected Immediately by
the program, that is the broad outline
and hope of the present administration.
The part of the program now under
way touches the desert regions from the
| State of Sonora to that of Tehuantepec,
| where vast network of irrigation ca
mails is appearing as the result of the
labors of a thousand workmen directed
by trained engineers When the program
now in blueprints has been completed,
the total cost will be approximately
SIPS, 600 900. This may not seem so large
when compared with appropriations in
the United States for public works, but
for Mexico it is no small outlay.
This irrigation program in Mexico was
| not adopted as means Of providing en-
ployment. 1t is not sort of w. P. A, but
a definite task for general rural settle
ment, and under direction of the Ma
tional Irrigation Commission, which was
officially established and empowered TO
administer the job. The work already
accomplished is sufficient TO show that
the task is not being considered short
ana indefinite program.
For example, starting from scratch
the commission made reconnaissance
soil survey of the entire country as
preliminary study of the land. With this
completed, detailed study was then
made of each project and specific soil
maps prepared as guide. In addition,
each project to be undertaken was also
surveyed from the air by aerial photog-
raphy, and a chain of weather bureaus
and hydrologic observation stations
set up.
As complicated and varied as such
tasks are, they are only few Of the
responsibilities of the commission. For
not only must the commission make de-
tailed maps, but it must make survey
of the social and economic conditions
of each region and incorporate these
findings in reports This combined in
formation determines not only whether
a proposed project will be undertaken.
but the amount of money to be spent
To prove the possibilities of irrigation,
an area in one State was irrigated as
demonstration project. So dry had been
that section since 1880 that the popula-
ton dwindled from $4,000 at that time
to 2.100 in 1885. 1t was impossible for
the farmers to grow corn cheaper than
it could be shipped in by rail Due to
inadequate rainfall and primitive farm
ing methods, the corn yield averaged
only Is bushels an acre in good years,
and frequently crops failed and farmers,
facing starvation, were forced to aban-
don their land. But today all this has
been changed. The area two years ago
looked like a strip Of the great Sahara
Desert, but this year the crop on some
1000 acres of land will more than treble.
The population of the community is in
i
and the morale of the people greatly
improved.
Not only does the program include the
retaining and irrigation of vast stretches
of land, but the fostering of agricul-
tural communities patterned somewhat
after certain farm projects developed
by this country's Farm Security Admin
istration. The first model of such a
community has been developed about 35
miles southwest of Laredo, Tex. This
community was developed as an urban
hub to serve the needs of the surround
ing 1l7,000-acre irrigation project and is
complete metropolitan center with its
own schools, churches, banks, mercantile
houses, processing factories, medical
The hope is to keep these farm-town
communities as service centers for the
large farms nearby by not encouraging
them to develop into large industrial
centers.
The whole scheme has been worked
out so that each project will be self
liquidating. Amortization payments are
reasonable and as money is repaid 1t
replenishes a revolving fund available
for further irrigation projects and for
the building of farm communities. The
initial money is arranged through the
Mexican treasury in cooperation with
the National Bank of Agricultural Credit.
In essence, the Mexican government
merely guarantees the credit.
Every civilized nation in the world has
given attention to irrigation. Even be-
fore the writing of history became an
established practice, the science and
benefits of irrigation had been discov-
cred. Queen Semiramis an ancient
Assyrian ruler, who is supposed to have
lived 1000 years ago, has been given
credit for directing her government to
divert the waters of the Nile to irrigate
arid lands. Many of the old canals
credited to the foresight of this ruling
queen are still diverting water.
Fr-