Faced with the scarcity of water resources, the government has taken a number of measures to rationalize their use, particularly in the agricultural sector. In this regard, he made the decision to give up the cultivation of watermelons this year in the Tata region. The announcement was made last Thursday by the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka. The government official was speaking at a meeting-debate in Rabat organized by the Press Club of Morocco under the theme “Water as a Moroccan issue”, in partnership with the Higher Institute of Information and Communications (ISIC).
Nizar Baraka added in the same vein that the Executive was working jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture, not to put an end to water-consuming crops in certain regions but to ensure that agricultural activities are carried out in a rational way, taking into account the capacities of water resources.
Mr. Baraka also returned during this meeting to the water stress that Morocco has been experiencing in recent years due to the rainfall deficit and the delays recorded in the realization of certain hydraulic projects (hill dams and seawater desalination stations ). Regarding the situation of dams, he noted a considerable drop in filling rates over the past four years, going from 62% in 2018, to 49% in 2019 then to 37% in 2020, and to 34% in 2021. to currently stand at 12.7%.
