Agriculture

Articles

• Spain to Recruit 17,000 Moroccan Women for Strawberry Harvest
  16 December 2019, by Bladi.net

  Throughout this week, representatives of the Spanish Ministry of Labor in Morocco, in coordination with ANAPEC, will proceed, under the watchful eye of several Andalusian businessmen, to the selection of Moroccan agricultural workers who will carry out the strawberry harvest in Spain.
  As every year, Morocco will make available to Spain thousands of agricultural workers to ensure the strawberry harvest operations. Thus, the selection of these women will be carried out this week in three (…)

• Morocco Achieves Self-Sufficiency in Poultry Meat Production, Study Shows
  24 December 2019, by Bladi.net

  Morocco can now cover its poultry meat needs throughout the national territory. This is the result of a recent study on the subject.
  The main achievements of the 2011-2020 poultry meat sector program contract have exceeded the set objectives, the same study indicates. They have now reached 31.6 billion dirhams in turnover, 12.9 billion in investment, 495,000 jobs including 150,000 direct and 345,000 indirect, the same source specifies.
  According to Agrimaroc, these results were recently (…)

• Morocco’s Economic Growth Slows to 2.1% in Q3 2019, HCP Reports
  5 January 2020, by Bladi.net

  Moroccan economic growth experienced a slight slowdown in the 3rd quarter of 2019, now reaching 2.1% compared to 3% a year earlier, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP).
  In an information note on the national economic situation, the HCP indicates that the closing of national accounts shows economic growth of 2.1% in Q3-2019, instead of 3% during the same quarter of the previous year.
  According to the same source, non-agricultural activities showed an increase of 3% while (…)

• Moroccan Olive Oil Consumption Lags Behind Mediterranean Neighbors at 3 Liters Per Capita
  7 January 2020, by Sylvanus

  The average annual consumption of olive oil does not exceed 3 liters per capita in the kingdom.
  "Moroccans are lovers of olive oil, even if their average consumption per capita does not exceed 3 liters per year, compared to 5 liters for Tunisians, 14 liters for Spaniards and 21 liters for Greeks," said a professional in the sector to Médias24.
  At the national level, the average annual consumption of olive oil is around 120,000 tons, of which 25,000 tons are packaged according to ONSSA (…)

• Morocco Triples Berry Production: Nearly 9,000 Hectares Now Cultivated
  12 January 2020, by Bladi.net

  Morocco has tripled its berry cultivation area. It has increased from 3,035 ha in 2009 to nearly 9,000 ha over the past two years, resulting in a leap in average production, set at 197,000 tons this year.
  The strong demand for strawberries on the European market has contributed to a significant increase in the area dedicated to these fruits. According to data from the Union of Moroccan Fruit and Vegetable Professionals, strawberry cultivation - which accounts for 40% of the area used for (…)

• Morocco Adopts New Law to Regulate Agricultural Pesticides, Protect Health and Environment
  19 January 2020, by Sylvanus

  Morocco intends to regulate the use of agricultural pesticides. In this sense, the Council of Government adopted, on Thursday, January 16, draft law No. 34.18 relating to plant protection products.
  This draft law replaces law No. 42.95 in force since 1995, reports TelQuel. Presented by the Minister of National Education to Parliament Saaid Amzazi, this project "is part of the government’s strategy for sustainable and responsible agriculture. It aims to ensure a high level of protection of (…)

• Russia Blocks 211 Tons of Moroccan Tomatoes Over Pest Infestation
  19 January 2020, by Sylvanus

  The Russian phytosanitary authorities blocked 211 tons of Moroccan tomato at the port of St. Petersburg last year due to the discovery of an infection.
  The 12 lots of Moroccan tomato totaling 211 tons were infected with tomato leafminer larvae. This is what the Russian phytosanitary experts discovered during routine checks. These are living specimens of the tomato leafminer. According to the Russian press, the infected products were either disinfected or sent back to Morocco.
  Tuta (…)

• Morocco Food Safety Agency Destroys Over 17,000 Tons of Unsafe Products in 2019
  25 January 2020, by Sylvanus

  The National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA) has reported on its activities at the end of December 2019. It appears that tons of food products and mint have been destroyed or rejected.
  In total, 17,641 tons of food products were destroyed or rejected in 2019 by the services of the National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA). This was following 74,799 control operations involving more than 13 million tons of food products, according to an ONSSA press release.
  According to the Office’s (…)

• Morocco’s Agri-Food Exports Nearly Double, Reaching 57.7 Billion Dirhams
  27 January 2020, by Sylvanus

  Morocco has experienced a boom in its agri-food exports between 2010 and 2018. Exports have increased from 29.3 billion DH to 57.7 billion DH during this period.
  In eight years, agri-food exports have almost doubled, i.e. a growth of 97% with a share of around 21% compared to Morocco’s total exports, reports the MAP.
  The best and most historic performance was recorded during the last campaign. In terms of volume, agri-food product exports stood at 3.1 million tons during the 2018-2019 (…)

• Global Citrus Production Set to Decline, Morocco Faces 31% Drop Due to Weather
  29 January 2020, by Sylvanus

  The forecast data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicates that world citrus production for the 2019-2020 season will decline. Morocco’s production will drop by 31%.
  According to the January 2020 USDA report, the bad weather conditions and the delayed rainfall are among the causes of the announced decline in world citrus production for the next season.
  Morocco’s production will suffer the same fate as the global one. Orange production will thus drop from 1,183,000 tons for (…)