Grain crop in 2023/2024 season below average

Tunis: The grain harvest for the 2023/2024 season will be below average compared with the normal average, said Head of the Directorate-General for Agricultural Production Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane.Speaking at a conference held Tuesday at the headquarters of the Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries Ministry, the official added that the grain harvest for the current season, the data of which will be announced shortly, will be better than the 2022-2023 season which stood at 5.3 million quintals due to the drought.The area sown stood at around 972,000 ha, or 81% of the planned area (due to the late autumn rainy season), while the area under irrigated grain reached 87,000 ha (or 103% of the programmed area), he added, highlighting the significant increase in irrigated crops in the Kairouan, Sidi Bouzid and Gafsa governorates.All preventive measures had been taken to protect farms and machinery from fire, in addition to cleaning up roadsides.As for preparations for the grain crop and collection season, the official pointed out that 166 out of a total of 179 collection centres had been approved and 22 out of a total of 26 laboratories had been tasked with grading the grain.Grain crops is expected to reach 7.8 million quintals, according to the Agriculture Department's figures.The Agriculture Ministry aims to provide grain seeds for the 2023-2024 harvest and crop season to the tune of 500,000 quintals, including 300,000 quintals of selected seeds and 200,000 quintals of controlled barley seeds stock under the reserve stock scheme.Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse