Since the beginning of the harvest season, the grain market in Morocco has witnessed major changes in the price level. Despite the declining and weak harvest compared to last year, prices have witnessed a noticeable decline compared to what they were a few weeks ago.
According to communications conducted by the electronic newspaper Hespress with farmers in the Gharb region and the Locos Basin, the collapse of the prices of grains of the “Farina” variety and durum wheat has become worrying, as the price of the first is estimated at between 2.40 and 2.50 dirhams per kilogram, and the second does not exceed 3.5 dirhams. The matter is Which would double the losses of farmers in a season that disappointed the expectations of many of them.
Abdel Salam Belknaouia, a farmer in the Souk al-Talaba group near the Grand Palace, said, “Production this year was weak compared to last year,” noting that “the rate in the fallow areas ranges between 20 and 25 quintals per hectare, and between 30 and 35 quintals in the areas.” “Irrigation.”
Belknaouia explained, in a statement to the electronic newspaper Hespress, that “irregular rainfall and its interruption in sensitive stages of the plant’s growth led to achieving an average production, the impact of which was exacerbated by the declining prices, which do not exceed 2.5 dirhams per kilogram of ‘farinah’, and this leads to a doubling of Peasant losses.
The same spokesman attributed the reasons for the decline in prices to imports, stressing that “the local product is directed directly to use in livestock feed,” and that “this matter renders the efforts of the Moroccan farmer without a real return or impact on the national market and the food security of Moroccans.”
The newspaper contacted Ahmed Al-Qarafli, one of the city’s well-known grain merchants, who confirmed that merchants buy one quintal of soft wheat from farmers for 240 or 250 dirhams, and hard wheat for 350 or 400 dirhams.
Al-Qarafli explained, in his statement, that “production varies from one region to another,” stressing that “some farmers in the Awamra region near Larache have a production rate per hectare exceeding 60 quintals.”
Regarding grain prices before the harvest season, the same merchant admitted that the price of “farinah” was estimated at between 350 and 400 dirhams per quintal, while the price of durum wheat ranged between 500 and 600 dirhams per quintal, considering that the decline in prices is normal and common during the harvest season.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests announced that the expected production of the main grains (soft wheat, durum wheat and barley), for the 2023/2024 agricultural season, is estimated at 31.2 million quintals, compared to 55.1 billion quintals during the 2022/2023 season.
The same ministry explained, in a statement issued at the end of last week, that the matter relates to a decrease of 43 percent compared to the previous season, highlighting that the area cultivated with main grains for this season amounted to 2.47 million hectares, compared to 3.67 million hectares in the previous season, that is, a decrease of 33 percent in The hundred.
The harvestable area is estimated at 1.85 million hectares, or about 75 percent of the cultivated area.
By type, the Ministry reported that production is distributed between 17.5 million quintals of soft wheat and 7.1 million quintals of hard wheat. And 6.6 million quintals for barley. Three regions contribute 83 percent of national production: Fez-Meknes with 37.1 percent, Rabat-Salé-Kenitra with 28.9 percent, and Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima with 18.2 percent.
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2024-05-31 04:43:55