Morocco Urged to Ban Water-Intensive Crops Amid Severe Drought Crisis

Certain fruit crops consume drinking water excessively. A single 10 kg watermelon can consume up to 450 liters of fresh water, warns the environmental protection association, which is calling for the "immediate cessation" of the cultivation of this fruit and avocado at a time when Morocco is experiencing its worst drought in 30 years.

Currently, the kingdom has a dam filling rate of around 32.7% compared to 49% in 2021. The total volume of water resource mobilization was 732 million m³ between September 1, 2021 and February 28, a deficit of about 90% compared to the annual average. This is why the association believes it is time to implement a radical change in agricultural policy, taking into account the level of water consumption and the specificities of each region.

To rationalize the use of drinking water during this critical period, the government has already asked municipalities to reduce the flow of drinking water in households and to ban its use for watering golf courses and hotel gardens, washing vehicles and cleaning streets, recalls Hespress. But these measures are insufficient to address the situation the kingdom is experiencing, the association warns.

"Watermelon is 80% water, which means that for 10 kg of watermelon exported, it is an equivalent quantity of 8 kg of non-renewable groundwater that is lost," explains the movement. And to add: "1 kilo of avocado consumes 1,000 liters of water! What about hundreds of thousands of tons per year?".