Ouarzazate Province: Sadiki visits agricultural areas affected by recent rainfall

Hibapress

The Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, Mohammed Sadiki, carried out a field visit to the province of Ouarzazate on Tuesday to observe the impact of recent torrential rainfall on agricultural activity and agricultural infrastructure.

The visit was an opportunity to announce an Emergency Action Programme aimed at mitigating the impact of the damage and restoring damaged infrastructure.

Accompanied in particular by the governor of the province of Ouarzazate, Abdellah Jahid, the president of the Drâa-Tafilalet region, Hro Abro, elected officials and heads of external services, the minister inquired at the Oum Rman site in the territorial commune of Ghessate about the nature and extent of the damage caused by the torrential floods.

At this site, the damage mainly affected the hydraulic infrastructure (seguias, protective walls, siphons, etc.) and fruit trees, particularly olive trees, fig trees and date palms, and annual crops.

“Based on a preliminary diagnosis of the situation on the ground, a budget of 40 million dirhams was initially mobilized to undertake urgent actions to repair the damage across the region,” the minister said in a statement to the press.

This emergency plan, which will be carried out in coordination with local authorities, elected officials and professional chambers, aims to rehabilitate hydraulic infrastructures, revive agricultural activities and open up the affected population, he said.

He added that the affected provinces will benefit from significant budgets within the framework of the development programs of the “Generation Green” strategy, focusing in particular on the promotion of agricultural sectors and the strengthening of infrastructure.

“Certainly, the floods have caused damage to crops and hydro-agricultural infrastructure of farms located on the edges of the wadis, however these precipitations have had a very positive impact on the water table and on the reservoirs of the region’s dams,” said the minister.

In this sense, particular interest is given to small farmers in terms of support, supervision, assistance and supply of inputs with a view to launching a good agricultural season.

The recent rainfall will have a beneficial impact on water resources and should meet drinking water needs for the next four years, in addition to the revitalization of oases, socio-economic development and job creation in these regions, Mr. Sadiki said.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the floods caused in the region have caused damage to crops and hydro-agricultural infrastructure of farms located on the edges of the wadis. The floods have thus caused damage to fruit trees (date palm, apple tree, olive tree, fig tree, etc.) and corn, market garden and fodder crops.

The damage to hydro-agricultural infrastructure across the region included, in particular, the deterioration of 29.7 km of seguias, 6 km of rural roads and agricultural tracks, hydromechanical equipment, solar energy equipment and pumping stations, the same source said.

Beyond the damage, the floods had a very positive impact on improving the filling rate of the dams (Mansour Eddahbi, Moulay Ali Chrif, Agdez, Kaddoussa, and Hassan Addakhil), on the irrigation of small and medium hydraulic perimeters (PMH), on the water table and on the plant cover.

The ministry also states that its services remain heavily mobilized in the affected areas to assess the damage caused by the downpours on the agricultural sector and to implement emergency actions and the action program set up to repair the damage.