Rabat — Morocco's agricultural dams reached a capacity of 3.3 billion cubic meters (m3), i.e. a filling rate of 24%, compared to 23% the previous year, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, Mohamed Sadiki, said.

Only 700 million m3 have been provisionally allocated to irrigation schemes, compared to 3 billion in an ordinary year, the minister pointed out at the oral question session of the House of Representatives on the current agricultural campaign.

The irrigated area in large schemes is estimated at 524,000 hectares, in addition to some 500,000 hectares planned for small and medium irrigation, Sadiki noted.

The minister said that his department monitors the water situation in all basins, while giving priority to trees and permanent crops and limiting the areas of water-eating crops.

The ministry also aims to reach one million hectares irrigated by the drip system by 2030, as part of the implementation of various programs and investment projects related to irrigation, Sadiki pointed out, adding that the area currently covered by this type of irrigation is estimated at 800,000 hectares.

Regarding complementary irrigation, the minister noted that a program to modernize irrigation networks is underway to valorize water, adding that the target area amounts to 130,000 hectares.