info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
（HOUDA EL FATIMI）
Launch of the campaign in the region of Casablanca-Settat
Sugar production has almost doubled in the last five years as the area has increased by only 10%. In order to ensure that the sugar beet harvesting campaign for this 2017 season is carried out, strong coordination and strict monitoring of the sugar beet crop has been deployed by the technical committee between the interveners, particularly the Ormvad, The Cosumar and the Association of Sugar Beet Producers, and on the other hand, efforts have been made, particularly in terms of management, management and new technologies.
Launched in early April, the campaign was characterized by the production of an area of 17,000 ha, 105% of the area planted, 100% utilization of the monogerm and early planting : 23% in September, 56% in October and 19% in November and 2% in December 2016.
The total production of sugar beet in the Casablanca-Settat region is currently estimated at 1,500,000 Tons whose daily processing capacity of the plant is more than 15,000 tons per day. "In order to ensure the sustainability of the results and performance achieved at present, the Regional Technical Committee for Sugar Beet has prepared well the beetroot campaign 2016-2017 in order to take the necessary measures for its launching and running in the right conditions," said Abderrahim Naili, Regional director of agriculture in the region of Casablanca-Settat. Indeed, the area sown in this crop is 17,000 ha, located mainly in the irrigated perimeter.
This crop benefits both from the sufficient water supply granted to the region of Casablanca-Settat for this crop year and for rains in the region which are sufficient. On average, the sugar crop benefited from 5 to 6 rounds of water. The beet growers carry out the maintenance operations for this crop, which receives special attention from farmers due to its value of production exceeding 42,000 DH / ha. At the level of the irrigated perimeter and under the Irrigation Water Conservation Program (PNEEI), a first phase of conversion to irrigation (10,700 ha) is nearing completion.
A first zone of 2,500 ha is set in water during this crop year. An area of 1,500 ha is sown in sugar beet under a drip irrigation system. The conversion to localized irrigation within the framework of the PNEEI made it possible to improve the yield up to 100 t / ha and the technological quality of the sugar beet, which allowed to increase the production value to 54.000 DH /Ha.
Status of the crop year
Concerning the state of progress of the crop year, namely the cropping program and the state of advancement of the plantings, it is worth highlighting the sowing of an area of 884,000 ha of cereals, Fall of which 52,000 ha irrigated, with an area of 89,000 ha of fodder crops including 36,700 ha irrigated, with an area of 50,000 ha of legumes.
The condition of the crops installed is generally good: the stands are very satisfactory, the crops are homogeneous, regular and develop normally taking advantage of the stock of water in the soil following the last rains. The autumn cereals are in the late stage of extension of the stem at the beginning heading. To ensure a good production of the selected seeds, an ambitious program of seed multiplication was carried out in the region of Casablanca-Settat. An area of 16,455 ha was sown, 31% of which was in irrigated areas and 69% in the southern areas. This operation will ensure the availability of the selected seeds for the next season.
It should be mentioned that the average rainfall accumulated up to 13/04/2017 is 280 mm, ie a 140% surplus compared to the previous season and 60% compared to the average of a normal year . The average rainfall in February 2017 of more than 40 mm will largely satisfy the water requirements of the autumn crops in the region and ensure a significant growth of these installed crops.
