Durum and soft wheat harvest prospects at centre of President’s meeting with minister [Upd 1]

Tunis: President Kais Saied met Monday in Carthage with Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries Abdelmonem Belati and Secretary of State in charge of Water Resources Ridha Gabouj.Better durum and soft wheat harvest prospects took centre stage along with the fill rate of dams and the furtherance rate of building new dams, the Presidency said in a press release.The President said it is imperative to ensure the maintenance of dams, some ofwhich are totally or partially sedimented which significantly impacted their water storage capacity.The current state of affairs is "the result of decades-long lack of maintenance, in addition to scarce water resources and climate change - for which Tunisia bears no responsibility but is nonetheless one of its victims."The talk also focused on water desalination projects, including those which reached completion, such as the Zarat and Sfax projects, and the plants in Mahdia et Zarzis.The issue of agricultural development groupings and irrigation water management as well as the need to establish a new legal system to secure a better management were discussed.In another connection, the President said there is need for the National Fodder Board to start working on ending the monopoly endured by farmers and stock breeders for years now which heavily affected milk production and caused the decline in total numbers of cattle and sheep and price rises.Agriculture in the Tunisian desert also took centre stage. The Head of State laid emphasis on the need to step up efforts to make of it a green area, especially as the projects carries out in Rjim MaStoug and Mohdeth (Kébili) "are an eloquent demonstration of desert areas turning into lands producing not only dates and olive oil but also all kinds of fruits and vegetables."Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse