MEKNES, Morocco- Morocco's cereal harvest is expected to reach 9.82 million tonnes in 2018, in line with last year's harvest, despite late rainfall, the agriculture minister said on Monday.
The forecast is above most recent official estimates of around 8 million tonnes.
"Despite the difficult start of this season, we managed to catch up," Aziz Akhannouch told an agricultural conference in the city of Meknes.
This year’s harvest includes 4.81 million tonnes of soft wheat, 2.28 million tonnes of hard wheat and 2.73 of barley, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.
Over 4.5 million hectares were sowed with soft wheat, hard wheat and barley in 2018 compared with 5.4 million hectares a year earlier, it said.
A year earlier, Morocco produced 4.89 million tonnes of soft wheat, 2.19 million tonnes of hard wheat and 2.46 of barley, according to statistics by the state-run grains authority.
This season takes place in good conditions following abundant rainfall, up 16 percent on an average year, the ministry said.
Last year, Morocco imported 4.19 million tonnes of soft wheat, 8.5 million tonnes of hard wheat and 4.4 million tonnes of barley.
Agriculture accounts for more than 15 percent of Morocco’s economy and employs nearly 35 percent of the workforce. The government expects GDP growth of 3.2 percent this year.
The majority of cereal-planted areas are small properties owned by subsistence farmers.
Wheat supply is key to Morocco’s stability as bread and semolina make up the staples for the 35-million population.
(Reporting by Ahmed ElJechtimi; editing by Jason Neely and Louise Heavens) ((Ulf.Laessing@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: follow me on twitter @ulflaessing))
