A total of 110 new projects covering the twelve regions of Morocco have been programmed for the year 2018 under the Pillar II of the "Plan Maroc Vert" (Green Morocco Plan-PMV), said, Friday, minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, Aziz Akhannouch.
The overall budget for these PMV Pillar II projects, which will be launched next year, reached 1,653 million dirhams ($176M), said Akhannouch in a presentation on the budget of his ministry before the Committee in charge of Agriculture and Production Sectors at the House of Advisors.
At this meeting, the minister said that a budget of 6.85 billion dirhams was earmarked to the program to fight against social and territorial disparities in rural areas for the year 2018 , noting that 3.39 billion dirhams of this amount will be financed by the Rural Development and Mountainous Areas Fund (FDRZM).
Concerning the agricultural sector, the 2018 budget reached 9944 million dirhams (9051 million dirhams in 2017), i.e. an increase of 10% a year earlier, said Akhannouch, noting that this rise mainly includes irrigation and agricultural development projects (+ 20%) and health security (+ 28%).
As part of food safety, the focus will be on seed inspection and certification (2.3 million quintals), plant inspection and certification (40 million plants, including 20 million strawberry and 20 million fruit trees).
1 Moroccan Dirham = 0.11 US Dollar
Source: allafrica.com