The collective water level of dams slated for agricultural purposes now amounts to 3.3 billion cubic meters (m3), with a filling rate of 24%–compared to 23% for the previous year–according to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, and Water and Forests, Mohamed Sadiki.
In response to a question in the Lower House regarding the current agricultural campaign, Sadiki emphasized that only 700 million m3 have been temporarily allocated for irrigation purposes, compared to 3 billion m3 in a typical year.
“The irrigated area in large-scale irrigation schemes is estimated at 524,000 hectares, with an additional 500,000 hectares designated for small and medium-scale irrigation,’’ the minister stated. “The ministry is actively monitoring the water situation in all basins, prioritizing trees and permanent crops, while limiting the acreage of water-intensive crops.”
Additionally, the ministry aims to achieve one million hectares of drip irrigation by 2030 as part of various investment programs and projects related to irrigation. Currently, the area covered by this type of irrigation is 800,000 hectares.
Regarding supplementary irrigation, the minister clarified that a program to modernize irrigation networks is underway to optimize water usage, with 130,000 hectares as the target area of coverage.