The Ministry of the Interior is preparing to examine the possibility of temporarily stopping the cultivation of watermelons for a period of one year, due to the situation of exceptional water stress that knows the Morocco. The use of a legal framework is also considered.
According to sources fromHespressand following noting the extent of the water crisis in Morocco, the government has taken measures to try to overcome the lack of water resources in the country, which are mainly due to the lack of rainfall during the season. past winter.
And in the absence of rains, agriculture has resorted to groundwater, thus threatening the country’s water security. Several parties raised the problem of certain water-intensive crops that deplete the country’s resources, particularly those located in already arid regions.
Faced with the situation of “water scarcity” in the Draa-Tafilalet region, the Ministry of the Interior held a series of meetings in Zagora, in an attempt to reduce the phenomenon.
It was discussed to examine the relationship between limited water resources and crops that contribute to the depletion of groundwater in the region. These meetings were attended by representatives of several government departments, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, as well as the Ministry of Equipment and Water, in addition to the Guir-Ziz Hydraulic Basin Agency. -Rhériss which covers the region of Drâa-Tafilalet and the chamber of agriculture of the region.
Sources of Hespresspresent during these meetings, specify that the Ministry of the Interior has proposed a temporary halt for one year to the cultivation of watermelon until the water situation improves.
Meetings with professional agricultural associations and farmers of cultivated land have also been organized, indicate the same sources, who note that one of the options considered would be to frame the cultivation of watermelon at the legal level instead of suspending it completely. , with a reduction of 3000 hectares in the area.
Farmers have strongly opposed the ban on watermelon cultivation for one year, believing that several families live from this activity. They also argue that the State has encouraged and supported the cultivation of this fruit by investing several billion dirhams.
