The drought that occurred in Morocco last fall is causing the cereal harvest markedly lower than in the previous year. While in 2015, thanks to a favorable trend in precipitation, was reached a harvest of 110 million tonnes record, this year there will be a drastic decrease (- 70%), amounting to 33.5 million tons. In detail, the wheat represents more than half of the harvest (18.6 million tons), followed by wheat (8.7 million) and barley (6.2). The delay in rainfall has also resulted in the reduction of cultivated areas, increased from around 5.1 million hectares to 3.6 million hectares this year. The grain harvest expected in 2016 is the worst in years, followed by the one recorded in 2012 (50 million tons). The Moroccan Government has adopted the anti – drought measures (aimed primarily at livestock protection) which was followed by more heavy rains in early 2016. This ‘determines, according to the branched data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the positive trend of’ 87% of plant and animal, of course except for cereals. In particular, the production of fruit registered a growth estimated at + 15%, + 5% horticulture, livestock + 4%. The expected growth in the breeding performance is attributable to the conversion to feed a part of agricultural land previously allocated to cereals.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews