Ukraine, Egypt explore preferential trade deal: Zelenskyy    Egypt, Russia's Rosatom review grid readiness for El-Dabaa nuclear plant    Mastercard Unveils AI-Powered Card Fraud Prevention Service in EEMEA Region, Starting from Egypt    Global tour for Korean 'K-Comics' launches in Cairo with 'Hellbound' exhibition    China's factory output expands in June '25    Egyptian pound climbs against dollar at Wednesday's close    New accords on trade, security strengthen Egypt-Oman Relations    Egypt launches public-private partnership to curb c-sections, improve maternal, child health    Gaza under Israeli siege as death toll mounts, famine looms    EMRA, Elsewedy sign partnership to explore, develop phosphate reserves in Sebaiya    Philip Morris Misr announces new price list effective 1 July    Egypt Post discusses enhanced cooperation with Ivorian counterpart    Egypt's Environment Minister calls for stronger action on desertification, climate resilience in Africa    Egypt in diplomatic push for Gaza truce, Iran-Israel de-escalation    Egypt teams up with private sector to boost university rankings    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Egypt condemns deadly terrorist attack in Niger    Egypt, Tunisia discuss boosting healthcare cooperation        Egypt's EHA, Schneider Electric sign MoU on sustainable infrastructure    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Grand Egyptian Museum opening delayed to Q4    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Egypt discovers three New Kingdom tombs in Luxor's Dra' Abu El-Naga    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Morocco's cereal sown areas surge amid more rain
Planting area grew by 62 per cent to 3.7 million hectares, but only 53 per cent of 2010's domestic yield made it to Morocco's market
Published in Ahram Online on 20 - 01 - 2011

Morocco's cereal-planted areas were 62 per cent above their level a year earlier in mid-December, while the amount of rainfall surged by almost as much, the central bank said.
Cereal-planted areas reached 3.7 million hectares against 2.3 million hectares the previous year, Bank al-Maghrib said in a report. The amount of rainfall by mid-December was 57 per cent above its level a year earlier, the bank added.
Seeds sales rose by just 2.4 per cent to 104,300 tonnes, however, while Moroccan farmers increased their fertilizer purchases by 27 per cent up to the same date, the bank said.
Morocco's cereal farming season starts in September and ends in June the following year.
The world's tenth-biggest wheat importer, Morocco saw its harvest last year cut by bad weather to 7.46 million tonnes from a record 10.2 million tonnes the year before. The latest harvest included 3.2 million tonnes of soft wheat against 4.3 million tonnes the previous year.
Since the vast majority of wheat-planted areas are small properties owned by farmers who use the harvest for their own subsistence, only 1.69 million tonnes -- or 53 per cent of the 2010 soft wheat harvest -- had been sent to market by the end of 2010, according to state cereal agency ONICL's latest statistics.
Morocco subsidises flour among other staples such as cooking oil, sugar and gas.
The state spent about 30 billion dirhams ($3.6 billion) in 2010 to subsidise such products for the country's population of 32 million. The figure is close to the kingdom's budget deficit at end-November.
ONICL introduced a compensation system earlier this month for importers of milling soft wheat until mid-April to keep supplies stable after a surge in grain prices.
Morocco's soft milling wheat imports jumped more than fourfold in the seven months to 31 December, to 1.25 million tonnes versus 0.3 million tonnes a year earlier, according to ONICL.
That meant Morocco had imported almost all the soft wheat it had planned to buy from abroad before end-2010, or 1.2 million tonnes of soft milling wheat, between 16 September and 31 December.
Morocco's grain import season starts in June and ends in May of the following year.


Clic here to read the story from its source.