Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 6:37 p.m.
Rabat – A communication meeting on the Regional Direct Seeding Program in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region was organized on Tuesday in Sidi Kacem, at the initiative of the Regional Directorate of Agriculture (DRA).
Held in partnership with the Chamber of Agriculture and the Regional Directorate of the National Agricultural Advisory Office (ONCA), this meeting is intended to be an opportunity to communicate with farmers and introduce them to the numerous agricultural, environmental and economic advantages of the technique. direct sowing.
Placed under the sign “Accelerate the rate of direct seeding to reach 200,000 hectares by 2030”, this event was marked by the presentation of several presentations relating to the progress of this regional program, the technical route of cereals using direct sowing, as well as the results of agricultural research in this area.
On this occasion, the regional director of agriculture of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, Mahjoub Lahrach, indicated that the DRA organizes, in cooperation with its partners, communication meetings with farmers to familiarize them with the advantages of the direct seeding technique, particularly in terms of soil preservation, cost reduction and increased productivity.
He added, in a statement to the press, that seeders were distributed to farmers to support them in all provinces of the region, indicating that provincial communication meetings and local workshops will be organized to promote the benefits of sowing directly to increase production.
For his part, the president of the Chamber of Agriculture of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, Mohammed El Bouyahyaoui, noted that the program is part of the “Green Generation”, emphasizing that the direct sowing technique is intended to be an effective means of preserving soil fertility and reducing costs, capable of contributing to accelerating the pace of the program to achieve the objective of 200,000 hectares by 2030.
For his part, the regional director of ONCA, Abdelaali Boudra, indicated that this meeting aims to raise farmers’ awareness of the advantages of the direct seeding technique, particularly in the current context characterized by drought.
Mr. Boudra emphasized the positive interaction of farmers, many of whom were interested in this program, adding that young people constitute a privileged target and benefit from agricultural advice and training.
The direct sowing technique is defined by a total absence of tillage (neither turning, nor decompaction, nor seedbed preparation), using, among other things, specific seeders which preserve the fertility of the soil, increase the yield of the cereals by 30%, in addition to the stability of the yield rate during years of drought, reducing the production costs of cereals by 60%, in addition to avoiding erosion factors by 50% and promoting resilience and adaptation of agriculture to climate change.
