Rabat – For Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the agricultural potential of Jerada offers the opportunity to find appropriate, tangible and sustainable economic alternatives for the mining town.
During his visit to Jerada this January 19, the minister said that “the agriculture sector could be a lever for development in the province,” adding that an investment budget of MAD 28.2 million will be allocated to the territorial municipalities of the town.
According to Akhannouch, the ministry has elaborated an action program aimed at improving farmers’ incomes and the standard of living of the local population, as well as job creation.
The planned actions include irrigation, local products, range management, development of cattle breed, beekeeping, fruit tree planting and the creation of cooperatives.
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To this end, Akhannouch reaffirmed that these projects will be rigorously monitored to ensure their success and achieve their intended objectives, emphasizing the importance of taking advantage of the natural resources of the province and implement an effective system of water saving through the use of drip.
He also stressed the need for farmers to organize themselves in cooperatives to benefit from the facilities granted in the field of irrigation, which is of great interest for the ministry, local authorities and elected officials.
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For their part, the unions and young people of Jerada insisted on the importance of creating a new model of development for the province, to take advantage of the agricultural potentialities it abounds.
They also called for more measures to increase the production of farmers and pastoralists, encourage investment, promote medicinal and aromatic plants and provide training for farmers.
Akhannouch also recalled that during the 2010-2017 perido, Jerada has benefited from many structuring projects which required an overall investment of over MAD 213 million, allocated for the development of rangelands, the conversion of cereals into fruit growing, the development of irrigation schemes and local products.
