Mohammedia – On November 12, Morocco’s agriculture and fisheries minister, Aziz Akhannouch, met with Ken Isley, administrator of the US Department of Agriculture’s foreign agricultural service, in Rabat.
After discussing with the American official prospects of stronger bilateral trade and expertise sharing on agriculture, Akhannouch said that Morocco expects a successful agricultural season this year.
According to the Moroccan minister, his department’s efforts and generous weather conditions are expected to drive the 2018-2019 agriculture seasons to an unprecedented harvest.
Commenting on the general optimism of Moroccan agricultural circles, Moroccan outlet L’Economiste reported on November 19 that this year’s bountiful harvest level will be a short-lived exciting period before things return to normal conditions.
According to L’Economiste, Morocco has received more rainfall at this point in the season than it has for 25 years.
By the end of October this year, Morocco had received 1,372 millimeters in rainfall, far higher than anything the country had registered in the last two decades in the same months. The figure, L’Economiste pointed out, is four times higher than what the country generally receives in October and November.
There will be an “exceptional harvest this year,” sources told the Moroccan outlet. Another reason this year’s unprecedentedly bountiful harvest will be sustained, they added, is because this year there has been high rainfall throughout the country rather than in just a few regions.
Too soon to celebrate
Conceding that there is a possibility that rainfall levels will fall by the end of the season, failing to yield the expected record harvest, others have suggested there is at least certainty that the 2018-2019 agricultural season will be far more successful than the 2017-2018 season.
Despite visible optimism, they are calling for caution. They have argued that it is too soon to claim a prospective glorious harvest when the most defining factor is whether there will be sufficient rainfall in March and April.
“There needs to be rainfall in March and April,” a producer told L’Economiste, suggesting that the current euphoria is somewhat premature.
Meanwhile, the agriculture and fisheries ministry is unapologetically optimistic about the prospects of this year’s harvest. In addition to generous weather conditions, the department has invested efforts in maintaining conditions conducive to greater output this year.
While there is already a sufficient supply of fertilizer in Moroccan markets, the ministry is planning to muster up 2.2 million subsidized seeds. “All the necessary conditions are in place to assure a bountiful year,” the ministry said.
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