Mohammed Alamouri, president of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development (COMADER), said the latest rains recorded during the month of March will have a positive impact on spring crops and gross agricultural production in general.
Alamouri said in an interview with MoroccoLatestNews that spring crops will save gross agricultural production thanks to the rains in March and those expected next April.
The President of the Confederation explained that these rains also had a positive impact on the psyche of farmers, as they would revive the water beds, provide pasture and benefit forests and fruit trees.
Spring crops are ranked second after autumn crops and include Fabaceae, especially chickpeas, and oilseeds, especially sunflowers, vegetables and corn.
The recent rains, according to Alamouri’s testimonies, will force herders to buy fodder given the positive impact on the vegetation cover of the pastures, thus saving a significant part of the expenses.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the expected area of the main spring crops, corn, chickpeas, sunflower and dry beans, should reach around 320,000 hectares if favorable conditions continue.
The Ministry of Agriculture has indicated that the area programmed for the cultivation of spring vegetables amounts to 80,000 hectares, which will provide sufficient production to cover the consumption needs of the local market during the summer.
In this month of March, Morocco experienced rainfall, with a cumulative average of 60 millimeters, which represents an increase of 52% compared to the previous season (39 millimeters), which bodes well for good prospects which make it possible to catch up the delay and low rainfall.
Forecasts indicate that rainfall in Morocco will continue sporadically during the months of April and May, which will have a direct impact on spring crops and an indirect impact on summer crops.
Bank Al-Maghrib had indicated that the safeguard of the spring harvests could bring economic growth during the current year between 2 and 2.5%, instead of the 0.7% currently expected.
Since last December, Morocco has experienced a drop in rainfall which has led to the loss of large areas of cereals, which has prompted the government to adopt a 10 billion dirham emergency program to support farmers.
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