After a year marked by drought and negative water-reduction figures, Moroccans are worried about the rainy season and the growing season. Experts also point out that fears about Morocco’s food security could increase if negative numbers also appear this year.
Mohamed Benabou, a climate expert, confirmed that the country is experiencing a water shortage, with a dam filling rate of 24 percent, a situation that Morocco has not experienced in over 40 years.
Benabou explained that the exact data on the agricultural season this year will appear in late November and early December, noting that if it rains in the regions of the Kingdom during this period, a good agricultural season can be predicted.
The speaker emphasized the importance of national mobilization for investment in human resources and rational use of water resources, emphasizing in the same context the need for human capital to manage the stage and conserve water resources both in times of abundance and in times of scarcity.
The same climatologist said last year’s rains were delayed until late February and early March, coinciding with the launch of the national spring crop program. Despite this, Morocco was able to fulfill its obligations to friendly countries and partner countries. regarding the production and export of early fruits and citrus fruits.
For its part, economist Mohammed Jadri said the government is betting on an average agricultural season with a yield of 75 million quintals of grain. Consequently, the need for rain has become very urgent, because if there is no rain for the next two months, the situation will be difficult, as the government will have to import other quantities of grain from abroad, which will lead to a large financial cost estimated in the billions of dirhams. Not to mention that Morocco’s water policy will never survive the effects of two consecutive drought seasons.
The spokesman, on the other hand, stressed that the government is now more than ever called upon to reconsider the “Green Generation”, which depends mainly on fruit-bearing trees that consume a lot of water, and it must accelerate plans to capitalize on river water that is wasted in water atlantic ocean downstream.
Jadri called for monitoring of rivers and valleys to reduce theft, estimated at one million cubic meters per day, according to the ministry’s statistics, and to speed up everything related to seawater desalination, as 20 plants are expected to be built in the coming years. in Casablanca, Safi, Nador, Saidia and Tantana and other coastal cities.
It should be noted that more than 88% of the Kingdom’s water is used for agricultural irrigation. Thus, awareness-raising campaigns calling on citizens to rationalize the use of drinking water will have a negative impact if the government does not rationalize irrigation water, due to which hundreds of thousands of cubic meters, sometimes up to 40% of waste, are lost due to defective canals.
