Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abdelhamid Hamdani, announced today, Tuesday, in Constantine, that Algeria aspires to reduce the import bill of agricultural materials and seeds to “15 percent after the success of the next harvest season.”
During his supervision, at the headquarters of the province of Constantine in the Daksi Abdeslam district, of a regional meeting with the executives of the agricultural sector as part of a working visit and inspecting this province, the minister affirmed that the roadmap prepared by the ministry in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic “aims to reduce the import bill by stopping the import of agricultural materials which are produced locally, such as processed tomatoes and potatoes, as well as 50 percent of seed potatoes.
Mr. Hamdani added that the development of this plan depends on raising production and mobilizing the sector’s executives and all the officials and players, including technicians, administrators and professionals, in addition to relying on supplementary irrigation.
He deemed, on the occasion, that the harvest operation for this season “is a challenge that requires mobilizing all resources and means, providing facilities, and tightly organizing the process through counting and determining collection points and sensitizing producers to ensure effective product collection.”
The minister also stated that a green gallery will be allocated for barley “in order to ensure that the harvest of this type of grain is collected in an effective manner” and to avoid the formation of long waiting lines, as well as the provision of this material as an alternative to livestock food.
Although the current agricultural season has been characterized by many difficulties due to the Corona pandemic, the lack of water resources and the scarcity of rain, the state has supported and encouraged farmers, especially in the field of supplementary irrigation, as no crisis or interruption in the supply of agricultural materials have been recorded, according to the minister.
Mr. Hamdani also affirmed that the ministry will endeavor to support the harvest operation for this season in order to avoid repeating the mistakes that were recorded in this field during the past seasons.
On the occasion, the minister visited a private farm in the Baarawiya area in the municipality of El Khroub, as well as a pilot farm in the Bounouara area of the municipality of Ouled Rahmoun, where he gave instructions to the owners of these agricultural investments providing for “the necessity of engaging in the state’s endeavor to encourage the local production of agricultural materials and seeds, especially after the success of the experiment of growing rapeseed for oil that the ministry aspires to spread across the various regions of the country.
Mr. Hamdani stated that the road map for the agricultural sector had yielded fruit, as part of the state’s policy aimed at achieving food security, abandoning the import of basic agricultural materials and developing the strategic agricultural branches.
