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Rabat – Since 2017 the province of Berkane has been hosting an annual celebration of its agricultural sector.
The socio-economic event aims to illuminate the potential of this sector in the rural town of Aghbal, near the Moroccan-Algerian border. If successful development continues, Aghbal’s cultural, artistic, and natural assets could facilitate tourism in the region.
The celebration encourages the exchange of experiences between farmers and professionals while exploring methods of developing fig tree cultivation, according to Moroccan news outlet Le Matin.
The festival was first launched in 2017 by the Gharmawne Agricultural Cooperative and the Gharmawne Association of Fig Producers and Agricultural Development and organized with support from the Ministry of Agriculture.
This year, about 30 cooperatives participated in the event and displayed their local products, which included olive oil, honey, and argan oil in addition to fig products. Visitors also enjoyed sports and artistic activities as well as presentations on fig tree culture and development.
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Mohammed Sadiki attended the opening ceremony. Sadiki is the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development, and Water and Forests.
Sadiki announced the event’s fig tree planting project. The Gharmawne Agricultural Cooperative led the project as part of the Plan Maroc Vert.
According to The Economist, 100 hectares of fig trees were planted in hopes of developing the fig industry, improving the productivity and quality of figs, and promoting the fig market.
The project aims to make figs available throughout the year as 200 tons of figs will be dried and 1,200 tons will be packaged fresh.
The long-term goal of the project in Aghbal is to extend the area reserved for fig-trees, which will require an investment of just over MAD 2,000,000.
Successful implementation of this project would ideally improve farmers’ income from MAD 1,700 per hectare to MAD 43,000 by increasing fig production to 5.2 tons per hectare.
The third edition of the Aghbal Fig Festival ran from August 23 to 25.
