Morocco encourages ecological agriculture in the face of the challenges of high cost and low demand

In an initiative aimed at encouraging an innovative agricultural model, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, in partnership with the French Development Agency and the European Union, launched last week a request for interest to submit projects to encourage ecological agriculture.

According to a joint statement from the partners, this initiative, which is part of the “Revival” program and falls within the context of implementing the Green Generation Strategy 2020-2030 and aims to revive ecological agricultural practices in the Fez-Meknes region, the Orient region and the Souss-Massa region, has been allocated an amount of 4 million euros. .

Encouraging the ecological agriculture model is a current topic in a number of countries around the world, according to what Kamal Abarkani, a professor at the Polytechnic College in Nador, emphasized, recalling the inclusion of the topic in the context of the international commitment to reduce the use of pesticides, chemicals, and fertilizers that are harmful to human health and its surroundings, and interventions to reduce the level of global warming and neutrality. Carboniferous.

Abarkani added, in a statement to Hespress, that “there is a growing segment of the world’s population that prefers to consume natural materials; While farmers, in light of the increasing prices of fertilizers, are searching for alternative crops with added value,” he noted, noting that “the prices of ecological agriculture products are high compared to treatment with fertilizers.”

The expert in engineering and agricultural sciences highlighted that these factors “push Morocco, which is at the peak of agricultural development, to conclude such partnerships with the European Union, the Netherlands and France in particular, which have important experience in ecological agriculture.”

For his part, Hamid Al-Salhi, an agricultural expert, said that ecological agriculture in Morocco “is not advanced, and is not popular with the broader segment of Moroccans.” Also, with the exception of rain-fed olive trees, the space allocated for this type of agriculture is very small and it can be said that it is limited to subsistence agricultural farms.”

Al-Salhi pointed out, in an interview with Hespress, that “the practice of ecological agriculture is very difficult, as the farmer needs to subject the soil allocated to it to numerous analyzes over a period of years in order to ensure that it is free of any pesticides or fertilizers, in addition to being exposed to diseases as a result of rain containing a percentage of From pollution, just as agro-ecological products are often exposed to diseases caused by insects and fungi, the treatment of which requires special and expensive medicines.”

In addition to the high cost of this agriculture, the same expert added, “The production of ecological crops is weak, and the size of their products is smaller compared to those supported by fertilizers. Therefore, the farmer will be forced to sell them at a high price to earn a profit, which may expose him to loss in the absence of a wide category of people who would like these products.”