It was expected that the forecast production of the main cereals (common wheat, durum wheat and barley) would have a drop in yield of 69% compared to the previous campaign with a volume of 32 million quintals.
The figures remained in line with the forecast and by type, the production of soft wheat for the current campaign will reach around 17.6 million quintals, durum wheat 7.5 million quintals and barley 6.9 million quintals. More than 60% of this production comes from the favorable areas of the regions of Fez-Meknes and Rabat-Salé-Kénitra.
It was further found that the cereal yield rate in Morocco has decreased from 62% to about 8.9% per hectare, due to low rainfall in the current agricultural season. The area sown to cereals in Morocco during this fiscal year was about 3.6 million hectares. Year after year, cereal crops in Morocco occupy nearly 5 million hectares out of a total of 9 million.
The Department of Financial Studies and Forecasts, affiliated with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, indicated in a detailed note for the month of July that for one hectare of cereals during the previous campaign, 23.7 of million quintals. In addition, data from the memorandum shows that the added value of the agricultural sector fell by around 14.3% in the first three months of this year, after an increase of around 19.4% a year ago. .
This decrease is due to the low rainfall of the agricultural campaign of the current season, although it was mitigated by the rainfall recorded in March. The average cumulative rainfall during the 2021-2022 agricultural season amounted to about 217.2 mm at the end of June 20, which represents a decrease of 28.9% compared to the previous season.
Although the production of the three main cereals did not exceed 32 million quintals, i.e. a drop of 69% compared to the previous crop year and 58% compared to the average of the previous five years, spring crops, they benefited from favorable climatic conditions in March and April and helped to revitalize the agricultural sector. Exports at the end of May amounted to around 30.3 billion dirhams, an increase of 24%.
The explanation for this collapse in Moroccan cereal production is no secret. It is a very low rainfall, or even the absence of precipitation in several regions during the first two months of the year, which has caused stress affecting the plant cover and a delay in the growth of autumn crops, in particular the cereals. The stress that followed caused a more or less significant drop in yields depending on the region, sometimes going as far as the loss of cultivable land.
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