#rains #beneficial #spring #crops #pastures #cereal #season #compromised
The country has recently experienced new precipitation, which mainly benefited the northern provinces. They also affected the cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Gharb.
If their impact is significant on the morale of farmers, these rains are unfortunately not sufficient for the current agricultural campaign, estimates Larbi Zagdouni, agroeconomist and ruralist, contacted by Médias24.
“The lack of water is much more significant. The cereal campaign, which is one of the pillars of agriculture in Morocco, is already finished, and the harvest is one of the worst” in the history of Moroccoadds our interlocutor, noting that “these rains however benefited to spring crops“.
“The campaign is seriously compromised”
“So we are not not yet out of the crisis“, worries Larbi Zagdouni. “The water situation is still very worrying throughout the Kingdom. The filling rate of dams is barely a third of their capacity; We still need to question the current reservoir, the water share and the siltation share,” continues the expert.
“The recent precipitation therefore does not cause no significant change for the agricultural campaign, which is seriously compromised”, estimates our interlocutor. “All the indicators are red”.
“As for the cereal campaign, there will be production barely acceptable in the regions of Fez, Saïs, Gharb, and in the province of Taounate, or around Khemisset and Meknes.
“To the south of Casablanca, production is very low, as well as at Berrechid, Doukkala and even Rhamna. And as a result of this situation, our farmers still continue to pump water from underground resources which have reached dramatic stages,” he laments.
Indeed, on March 19, in its traditional press release following its council meeting, Bank Al-Maghrib announced the first cereal harvest forecast for the current year: 25 million quintals compared to 55.1 Mq in 2023. If this level is confirmed, it will be one of the worst harvests in modern times. The two lowest harvests reached 24 million and 18 million quintals, after Independence.
“Moreover, in areas that have been affected by hailthis one goes affect the production of certain rosacea“.
Beneficial impact on spring crops and grazing
“However, for certain spring crops so-called seasonal vegetables grown in the open air, such as potatoes, onions or even chickpeas, recent rainfall were beneficial”, nuance Larbi Zagdouni.
“It is the same for arboriculture fruit and the pasturewhich will benefit breedingthe second pillar of agriculture in Morocco, which has lost a lot of its productive capital.
“Snowfall at Bouiblane and Boulmane will also be beneficial” to the water tables, continues the expert.
“The impact of the latest rainfall is therefore mixed“, underlines Larbi Zagdouli, who takes the opportunity to make consumers aware of the extent of the seriousness of the water and agricultural situation, calling on them to pay more attention to their water consumption.
“We need to change our behavior and our food and agricultural consumption models in particular,” concludes the agroeconomist and ruralist.
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