The final production of cereals for the 2021-2022 season is estimated at 34 million quintals, down 67 percent compared with the previous season which recorded an exceptional performance of 103.2 million quintals, the Ministry of Agriculture said Monday in a statement.
The cereal area sown for the campaign is 3.6 million hectares against 4.35 million hectares in the previous campaign.
By species, cereal production is as follows: 18.9 million quintals of soft wheat, 8.1 million quintals of durum wheat and 7.0 million quintals of barley.
The 2021/2022 crop year was characterised by a poor temporal distribution of rainfall, with almost a third of the rainfall occurring in November and December and 53 percent of the cumulative rainfall occurring in March and April, the ministry said.
This campaign recorded a rainfall that reached 199 mm at the end of May 2022, down 44 percent compared with the 30-year average (355 mm) and a drop of 34 percent compared with the previous campaign (303 mm) on the same date, the same source said.
The very low rainfall, or even its absence in several regions of the Kingdom during the months of January and February, has caused a delay in the growth of cereals and a decline in yields more or less important depending on the region, the statement explained, noting that the cereals in favorable areas have relatively better behaved following the rains of the last decade.
HA/lb/abj/APA