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Rabat – Morocco’s avocado production is set to experience a 20% increase this year compared to the previous season, producers have announced.
Agriculture-focused website EastFruit quoted a list of avocado producers who acknowledged that this year’s avocado harvest is 20% higher compared to the previous season.
“We just successfully passed a critical stage in production, which is the flowering phae during May and June,” the outlet quoted the president of the Moroccan Avocado Association Abdellah El Yamlahi as saying.
He added that visits to avocado growing regions show that growers have “successfully completed this stage helped by better climate conditions and temperatures compared to last season.”
El Yamlahi forecast all growers to secure 20% more yields compared to the previous season, representing a total volume of at least 60,000 tonnes at the national level.
The new data reflects an overproduction of water thirsty crops despite the drought and water stress that the country has been facing in the past few years.
A previous report in April from Freshplaza suggested that Morocco’s avocado production hit an “almost all time record.”
This comes despite pledges to decrease avocado harvests, as well as other water-heavy crops, amid water scarcity in the country.
Morocco’s Ministry of Agriculture and Water has frequently expressed concerns about water stress and drought.
Last year the government described the 2018-2022 drought as the worst that Morocco has seen in 40 years.
Several international reports also shed light on the water crisis, including one from the World Bank.
In June,the World Bank assessed the water stress challenges in the Middle East and the North Africa region, pointing out farmers’ responsibility in the issue.
For the report, farmers “regularly disregard” public regulations on water management ”because they do not believe the state should restrict their use of water, and they believe none of their neighbors in the community are following the rules.”
