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Developing agriculture in the southern wilayas proves to be a major asset on which Algeria is banking to ensure its food security. Many wilayas in the south of the country are affected by ambitious investment programs in strategic crops.
In this context, it is worth mentioning the wilaya of Nâama, which is on the way to becoming a hub for strategic agricultural crops and a real destination for agricultural investment given the potential it holds.
In this context, the wilaya of Naâma hosted, this Saturday, a national meeting entitled: “Promising prospects for investing in strategic agriculture and promoting local breeds”, with the participation of several ministers. A major event which highlighted the potential and economic attractiveness of the wilaya, particularly in the agricultural sector. This is also what the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Youcef Cherfa, affirmed, who indicated that the wilaya has natural capacities which will allow it “a destination for investors wishing to launch projects in the agricultural sector”.
In this sense, he pointed out the availability of the land bases necessary for the realization of these projects. “80,000 hectares are intended for the implementation of strategic projects,” said Mr. Cherfa, indicating that his ministerial department has put in place a special national plan for the development of six strategic sectors, namely cereals, legumes , oilseed plants and dairy production. Underlining the commitment of the Ministry of Agriculture to the provision of the land bases necessary for the realization of integrated investment projects in the wilayas of the south of the country, he announced that “the reconversion to date of an area of 458,823 hectares at the Office for the Development of Industrial Agriculture in Saharan Lands (ODAS, spread over 54 areas, 46 of which have been made available to operators).
The national plan for the development of strategic sectors also concerns the rehabilitation of agricultural production units, after the restructuring of pilot farms dedicated to the production and development of strategic sectors, according to the details of the minister, who indicates that this plan is also based on strengthening storage capacities.
This plan consists of the construction of 350 local storage centers with a capacity of 1,750 million tonnes of cereals as well as the relaunch of the project to create 16 silos, in addition to the construction of 30 new silos to store three million tons of cereals. Mr. Cherfa also stressed the need to preserve and promote the breeding of the Deghma sheep breed. The minister, who affirmed that the choice to organize this meeting in the wilaya of Nâama comes from the importance of this wilaya and its considerable capacities in the agricultural sector, returned to the animal wealth available to the wilaya, which is estimated at more than 1.271 million head of sheep and nearly 112,000 head of goats and 19,000 head of cattle.
The meeting, organized under the patronage of the President of the Republic and under the aegis of the Ministries of Agriculture and the Interior, was characterized by the participation of several ministers and walis.
They have thus signaled their desire and commitment to support this dynamic and the development of strategic cultures. For his part, the Minister of Industry, Ali Aoun, stressed the need to promote complementarity between the agricultural sector and that of industry, stressing the importance of this meeting. The latter aims to attract economic investments in strategic sectors taking into account the potential, particularly in terms of land bases, indicated the minister.
For his part, the Minister of Hydraulics, Taha Derbal, highlighted the importance of agriculture and especially highlighted the contribution of the sector in the implementation of this strategic program. “The hydraulic sector is the ally of the agricultural sector,” he noted, highlighting the efforts made by the ministry to guarantee the availability of water for irrigation. Mr. Derbal, in this sense, mentioned the facilities granted for obtaining authorizations for drilling wells. “We have not yet achieved the objectives set out but more efforts will be made to support farmers in this direction,” he said.
The members of the government present inaugurated the first edition of the National Exhibition of Agricultural Processing Industries, with the participation of around forty exhibitors.