Morocco Earmarks 40Bln MAD for Investment in Irrigation, Agriculture

The volume of investment allocated for irrigation and the development of agricultural areas under the “Generation Green 2020-2030” strategy is totaling 40 Bln dirhams, said, on Wednesday in Rabat, Agriculture Minister Mohamed Sadiki.
Sadiki, who was a guest of MAP Forum themed “Generation Green, a strategy for Morocco’s food security”, said that the set goal is to improve irrigation efficiency and energy savings in order to maintain the agricultural sector’s resilience.
He noted that the process of developing dam-mobilized water resources is done by the expansion of irrigation on an area of 72,500 hectares, as well as the preservation of groundwater, noting that the drip area increased from 160,000 hectares in 2007 to 750,000 hectares in 2022.
Sadiki emphasized the need of using non-conventional water sources, such as seawater desalination.
Sadiki recalled that a desalination project aimed at irrigating the plain of Chtouka was recently completed over an area of 15,000 hectares, with a capacity of 400 cubic meters per day and a cost of 4.4 MMDH.