In response to five oral questions on “irrigation water management”, Mr. Sadiki indicated that several measures are being taken by the ministry to double water efficiency and support the sustainability of irrigated agriculture, in particular through “the continuation of the extension of irrigation downstream of dams over an area of 70,000 ha”, as well as “the continuation of the program of rehabilitation and safeguarding of small and medium hydraulic perimeters over 200,000 ha”.
He added that the ministry is also working to increase the water supply through structuring projects focused on “accelerating the construction of dams by the Ministry of Equipment and Water to increase storage capacity to an additional 6 billion m3”, and “creating seawater desalination plants for irrigation over an area of 120,000 ha to protect and perpetuate irrigation in certain agricultural basins and create new basins”.
Among the structuring projects, according to the minister, are “the water supply and the interconnection between the hydraulic basins within the framework of an agreement with the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Equipment and Water and the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water”, which will provide approximately one billion m3.
Recalling that the cumulative programs and projects of the ministry have made it possible to expand the total irrigated areas to reach 1.8 million ha during normal climatic conditions, Mr. Sadiki said that “irrigation networks of large irrigated areas within the framework of the Green Morocco Plan and Generation Green have been modernized, covering 175,000 ha, of which more than 80% are small farmers”, and that “850,000 ha have been equipped with drip irrigation”.
“All these efforts will enable the agricultural sector to mobilize a strategic water stock of around 3 billion m3, a basis for achieving food sovereignty,” he noted.
Regarding the state of the current agricultural season, the minister noted that it is affected by a severe drought that has persisted for years, described as exceptional, continuing that “the filling rate of agricultural dams reaches 3.89 billion m3, or a filling rate of 28%.”
He also indicated that “the total water supply to agricultural dams for this season does not exceed 24 billion m3, a deficit of 76% compared to normal supplies and 24% compared to the previous year”, and that “the allocation for irrigation during this season is 890 million m3”.
Regarding the implementation of measures to rationalize the use of water, Mr. Sadiki stressed that the ministry is working in this direction in collaboration with all the partners concerned, including professionals.
These include “prioritizing the preservation of fruit trees and permanent crops, facilitating the use of underground resources according to the water situation of each water table to save the trees”, and “monitoring the evolution of the water situation at the basin level to program and revise the water quotas allocated according to the contributions to the dams”.
According to Mr. Sadiki, it is also a question of “reviewing the areas of summer crops according to the water situation of the areas, continuing efforts to improve and perpetuate the water service, through the increase in credits for the modernization and maintenance of irrigation networks”, as well as working through the Regional Offices for Agricultural Development to improve the water service and intensify communication with farmers in order to coordinate the optimal management of irrigation and the determination of the water needs of the scheduled crops.
2024-09-19 06:42:43