2024-07-15 23:15:07
The cultivation of the date palm in this region, the fruit of typical agricultural and architectural know-how, extends to the axis of Meski Boudnib, on the oases of Drâa, in the provinces of Ouarzazate and Tinghir, as well as on the oases of Tafilalet, the banks of Oued Ziz and the oases of Zagora.
Despite environmental constraints, mainly due to drought, the phoeniciculture sector has recorded a clear improvement in its performance in recent years in this region, thanks to the increased efforts made by the various stakeholders involved.
According to Jamal Mimouni, director of the Regional Office for Agricultural Development (ORMVA) of Tafilalet, the agro-climatic specificities of the oasis zones of the Drâa-Tafilalet region make this land an area of date production par excellence.
“In this oasis region, the date palm is a pillar of the economy. It is in fact the backbone of oasis agrosystems, generating today 60% of the composition of the agricultural income of the oases and 4 million days of work for more than two million of the population,” said Mr. Mimouni in an interview with MAP, specifying that the average annual production of the region is estimated at more than 105,000 T.
Noting that the region’s economy is mainly based on the exploitation of date palms, accounting for nearly 90% of national date production, he said that the sector alone contributes 1.84 billion dirhams of added value, or 43% of the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) of the Drâa-Tafilalet region.
Drâa-Tafilalet is also the land of production par excellence of the best varieties of dates on a national and international scale, he continued, noting that Mejhoul, Boufegous and many other so-called noble varieties of the date palm are native to the valleys of Tafilalet and Drâa.
Addressing the remarkable growth experienced by the date palm sector in recent years, the director of ORMVA recalled in this sense that the Green Morocco Plan, through the 2009-2020 program contract, has made it possible to plant more than 2.5 million date palms in the region while improving indicators in terms of production and quality.
In terms of investments, Mr. Mimouni indicated that with the Generation Green strategy (2020-2030), the State plans to mobilize 4.9 billion dirhams in the form of subsidies for the planting of 4 million palm trees by 2030, including 1.6 million at the level of extensions, as well as the installation of water-saving systems and the establishment of more than 20 date valorization units.
He explained, in this regard, that this objective will be achieved through an ambitious and integrated program focused on the modernization of the irrigation system, the valorization of dates and the diversification of varieties.
It is clear that the date palm and the Drâa-Tafilalet region are closely associated. Even more, the date palm sector is today the undisputed locomotive of the agricultural sector in this region of southeastern Morocco.
2024-07-15 23:15:07