The surge in avocado exports calls into question government efforts to reduce excessive water consumption

Agadir 24 | Agadir24

The parliamentary group of the Justice and Development Party called on the government of Aziz Akhannouch to reveal its plan to reduce excessive water consumption in agriculture.

In a written question addressed to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, the parliamentary group paused when, in March 2024, Morocco sent the first direct shipment of avocado fruit to Georgia, noting that this step comes at a time when the Minister of Equipment and Water confirmed in previous statements that The government decided to stop supporting avocado cultivation and began to follow the logic of deletion linked to the amounts of water in different regions.

The group explained in its question, signed by parliamentary representative Fatima Zahraa Bata, that recent reports indicate that the proportion of Moroccan exports of avocados has increased over the past year, and the planted areas of this fruit have expanded despite the water stress the country is experiencing, which has prompted the authorities to legalize a group of consuming sectors. For water.

According to the written question, Moroccan exports amounted to approximately 45,000 tons of avocados, according to the “Eastfruit” platform, during the last year, which questions the government’s efforts to legalize excessive water consumption in the agricultural sector.

Accordingly, the Parliamentary Group for Justice and Development called on the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests to reveal the measures taken to legalize excessive water consumption in the agricultural sector, questioning the extent of respect for these measures by various actors in the sector.