The rains of the last three months have had a very positive impact on the evolution of the 2020/2021 agricultural season, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests.
“The heavy and generalized rains recorded in January, February and March had a very positive impact on the evolution of the agricultural season”, one indicates in a press release sanctioning the work of a follow-up meeting held by the Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests with senior central and regional officials on the progress of the current agricultural campaign.
These rains allowed the improvement of the plant cover in general and of the rangelands in particular, the revitalization of maintenance works (chemical weeding and application of nitrogenous fertilizers), the improvement of dams for agricultural use and the levels of water tables.
It is also a question of improving the situation of fruit growing, in particular the good start of vegetative growth and the improvement of the size and the maturation of late varieties of citrus as well as the good performance of the new arboricultural plantations.
The national average rainfall on March 25, 2021 amounted to 271.9 mm with a good temporal and spatial distribution against 286.9 mm for the average of the last 30 years, a slight decrease of 5%. As for the reserve of dams for agricultural use, it amounts to 6.74 billion m3 against 5.85 billion m3 the previous campaign on the same date, i.e. a filling rate of dams for agricultural use of 49% against 43%. the previous campaign on the same date, specifies the same source. And to recall that the start of the 2020/2021 agricultural campaign was characterized by unfavorable climatic conditions with a notable water deficit and an inadequate spatiotemporal distribution, which delayed the installation of autumn crops and negatively impacted the state of the rangelands. .
This rainfall deficit was gradually absorbed, from the 3rd ten days of November 2020, with a return of heavy rains, which affected most of the national territory and contributed to the acceleration of the pace of soil work, plantings and sales of agricultural inputs, particularly seeds and bottom fertilizers.