- Title: MOROCCO: Morocco hosts international date exhibition.
- Date: 11th November 2012
- Summary: INTERIOR OF EXHIBITION VENUE / PEOPLE MILLING ABOUT MORE OF PEOPLE AT EXHIBIT WITH CULTIVATORS STANDING BY DATE STANDS YOUNG BOY LOOKING AT DATES VARIOUS OF DATES HANGING UP PROTECTED WITH A NET AND OUT ON DISPLAY MOROCCO'S AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES MINISTER AZIZ AKHANNOUCH LOOKING AT PACKAGE OF DATES IN ONE BOOTH KAMAL HIDAN, DIRECTOR OF EXHIBITION TALKING TO ASSISTANT (
- Embargoed: 26th November 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Morocco
- Country: Morocco
- Topics: Business,Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA7QGE2SS0HOWDM0RJSFR2NJ6ZD
- Story Text: Date palm cultivation plays a major role in sustainable development in south-eastern Morocco, where the town of Erfoud hosts the third international date exhibition, attracting date cultivators and traders from around the world.
Morocco's third international date festival was launched in the southeast Erfoud region on Thursday (November 8), drawing date palm cultivators and traders from across the world.
Farmers and vendors displayed the best of their date harvest, hoping to attract new buyers and achieve high sales figures during the four-day event.
Last year's exhibition, which was attended by participants from four foreign countries, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, saw more than 90,000 visitors attend the event.
Director of the exhibition, Kamal Hidan, said as many as 100,000 visitors were expected this year.
"The third edition is witnessing the same success and the same big audience it did in the previous edition. It is a meeting point for cultivators who are exhibiting their produce and showcasing the high quality and quantity of their harvest. The exhibition is also an opportunity to meet expert researchers in palm trees and also many people who are in charge in this field."
The Moroccan government is pushing to expand date farming co-operatives in the south-eastern region of the country, where date palm cultivation plays a major role in sustainable development.
With around 48,000 hectares of its land reportedly cultivated and nearly five million palm trees, Morocco ranks seventh in world date production. The country produces over 450 varieties of the fruit.
The exhibition attracts clients from around the world and plays a major role in boosting the province's economy.
"The area of Rachidia and Erfoud is similar in its nature and components to the oases we have in al-Qassim and al-Ahassa in Saudi Arabia. We are happy to take part in this event and to meet our brothers who are producing dates. We hope that the resolutions of this event will be implemented because everyone will benefit," said Farhan Fahad Alaqeel, a representative of the Saudi Irrigation and Drainage authority, who was visiting the exhibition.
In recent years, drought and Bayoud disease have had serious consequences on date production in the country, which once boasted around 15 million palm trees.
In a bid to revive the sector, the Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry launched its Green Plan, an initiative aimed at restoring existing cultivated land and exploring ways of making more land available.
"The number of co-operatives is increasing and this is a good thing because there is competition for quality and agricultural techniques. In the Rachidia region, there is plenty of empty land that could be cultivated, so we could export dates. So far we haven't been able to achieve self sufficiency because we are still importing dates from abroad," said Adel Haq Cherradi, chairman of the Waha Ennour Co-Operative.
Mohammed Belhassan, head of the National Federation of Producers of Dates in Morocco, says the initiative and setting up co-operatives will give farmers better value for their produce and introduce healthy competition.
"After setting up the federation, we set up some associations and co-operatives. After that, we set up groups of co-operatives that will benefit from units built by the Agriculture Ministry to give better value to the products in packaging, refrigerating and better marketing," he said.
According to local media reports, Morocco produces around 100,000 tonnes of dates every year and imports 30,000 tonnes.
The country hopes to achieve an annual production rate of 160,000 tonnes of dates per year by 2020. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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