Morocco Cuts Subsidies for Water-Intensive Crops Amid Drought Concerns

The measure is contained in Article 6 of Ministerial Decision No. 1323.22 setting the new terms for granting the subsidy for agricultural water development in agricultural holdings, jointly signed by the Minister of Agriculture, Mohamed Sadiki, and the Delegate Minister to the Minister of Economy and Finance, in charge of the Budget, Fouzi Lekjaa. According to this provision, the most water-intensive crops will no longer benefit from state aid, reports the daily Al Ahdath Al Maghrbia.

This decision follows the instructions sent in March by the Ministry of the Interior to the walis and governors in the regions, asking them to subject certain crops such as watermelon to prior authorizations, recalls the same source, before specifying that this decision to remove these crops from the aid concerning localized irrigation will have repercussions on the export of watermelons. "The value of watermelons exported to Europe between January and June of this year was 132.4 million euros with an average price of 0.65 €/kg," the newspaper pointed out.

As for citrus fruits, "the volume during the 2021-2022 season was 766,500 tons, thus recording a growth of 40% compared to the previous season," adds the same source, specifying that "citrus production is concentrated to the tune of 85% in the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra regions with 700,000 tons, Souss-Massa with 672,000 tons, the Oriental with 460,000 tons and Béni Mellal-Khénifra with 436,000 tons".