The Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Waters and Forests has announced that the final production of the main cereals for the 2021/22 agricultural campaign stands at 34 million quintals (MQX ), a decrease of 67% compared to the previous campaign which recorded an exceptional performance of 103.2 MQX.
The cereal area sown under the campaign is 3.6 million hectares against 4.35 million hectares during the previous campaign, says the ministry.
By species, cereal production is divided between common wheat (18.9 MQX), durum wheat (8.1 MQX) and barley (7 MQX).
According to the ministry, 58% of production comes from the favorable regions of Fez-Meknes and Rabat-Salé-Kenitra, noting that irrigated cereals contributed only 20.7% of total production.
“This is due to the decline in the irrigated area of cereals and irrigation restrictions in the perimeters of large hydraulics”, explains the department of Mohamed Sadiki.
As a reminder, the 2021/2022 agricultural campaign recorded rainfall which at the end of May 2022 reached 199 mm, down 44% compared to the 30-year average (355 mm) and a drop of 34% compared to the previous campaign (303 mm) on the same date.
This campaign was also characterized by a poor temporal distribution of rainfall, with nearly a third of the rainfall occurring during the months of November and December and 53% of the cumulative rainfall occurring in the months of March and April. .
The very low rainfall, or even its absence in several regions of the Kingdom during the months of January and February, caused a delay in the growth of cereals and a more or less significant drop in yields depending on the region. Cereals in favorable areas fared relatively better following the rains of the last dekad of February, March and early April.
Impact of -1.8 points on overall GDP
In addition, adds the ministry, the forecast agricultural value added should register a drop of 14%, which would result in a drop in growth points of 1.8.
Given the final production of cereals, the performance of arboriculture, market gardening and spring crops, as well as the positive effects of the program to mitigate the effects and the impact of the rainfall deficit, in particular on the livestock, the forecast added value should register a drop of 14%, notes the ministry, noting that the impact of this drop on the overall GDP is -1.8 points.
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