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The Green Morocco Plan (PMV/Plan Maroc Vert) has given a real dynamic to the agricultural sector since its launch in 2008, allowing the irrigation of 1.6 million hectares (18% of all agricultural land), said Tuesday in Skhirat, Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, Aziz Akhannouch.
Presiding a meeting dedicated to the PMV’s balance sheet ten years after its launch, Aziz Akhannouch delivered revealing figures: The areas equipped with a localized irrigation system reached 560,000 ha. This, thanks to a state investment effort of 12.3 billion dirhams through the Agricultural Development Fund.
Morocco now produces 3 times more with half the volume of water previously used, drip irrigation has saved 1.6 billion cubic meters of water annually, the equivalent of retaining a large dam the size of that of Bin El Ouidane.
The reserves of seeds have, for their part, been increased from 500,000 quintals to 2.2 million quintals in 2018, mechanization has also evolved with now 9 tractors per 1,000 hectares, against 5 tractors at the launch of the PMV.
Progress has been made thanks to the transverse structuring programs of the plan, which have allowed a 60% increase of the agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 125 billion dirhams compared to the year of the launch of the PMV.
The minister also cited the increase of 44% in the valorization and processing capacities of agricultural products between 2008 and 2018. Period during which 241 new units were born and 327 others were equipped for the benefit of small farmers, in addition to capacity building of 161 units in modern agriculture. On the other hand, roads were created in 415 rural communes for a total of 3 billion dirhams, helping to open up rural areas.
The Skhirat meeting, in which the presidents of inter-professional federations and chambers of agriculture took part, also made it possible to take stock of the difficulties experienced by the sector, particularly with regard to storage, distribution, marketing, and financing.
