Huge downpours hit the whole of Morocco

In half a century Morocco has not suffered anything like the deluge that has occurred during the last four months: people have been killed, whole regions flooded, serious damage done and dams filled up.

 

In market gardening, however, only some very specific regions have been particularly badly hit. But no real assessment of the damage to the sector can be made until the ground dries out. Dams 80% full and recovery of groundwater levels.

 

Basically the floods have affected the area of Gharb (North) and to a lesser extent Loukkos. Water levels in dams and the exceptional level of rainfall have caused the wadis to burst their banks. For example, more than 100,000 hectares were flooded in Gharb.

 

This rich agricultural plain extends as far as Larache (80 km to the north) and Meknès (120 km to the east of Rabat) and has a surface area of 380,000 hectares under cultivation (mainly in cereals, citrics and market gardens).

 

Since October, Gharb has had an average of 600 millimetres of rain, double the rainfall recorded during the last thirty years for the same period, according to the regional head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Abdelaziz Bousraref.

 

The region of Souss, producer of 80% of Morroco’s early crops, has experienced a rise in the level of water tables thanks to an accumulation of continuous rain since October of around 250 millimetres.
Dams that supply the area have also seen their capacity rise from 15 to 35 % without much damage to standing crops. However, Souss needs a lot more rain to halt the spread of desertification over its terrain.

 

Only after the ground dries out can a true assessment be made of the damage to market gardens. The first measure envisaged is the staggering of planting, which will inevitably lead to a drop in harvests. This means that tomatoes (for the fresh and industrial markets) and watermelons will suffer around 1 month’s delay on planning.