Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
This is a new shift that the agricultural sector should begin, which will now be driven by modernization and the increased use of research and science, which will above all make it possible to exploit all the resources which remain, until now, underexploited.
Presiding yesterday at the International Conference Center (CIC) in Algiers the opening of the work of the National Conference on the modernization of the sector, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid, affirmed that the modernization of the sector is a necessity to face future challenges, imposed mainly by climate change.
“Algeria faces great challenges in the agricultural sector. But the country has considerable resources that are still underexploited,” said the minister, highlighting the “strong desire” to carry out a profound transformation of the agricultural sector thanks to science, technology and modern management. According to him, this national conference constitutes “an important shift in the qualitative transformation of the sector”.
Affirming that the priority of the sector is to guarantee food security for 65 million inhabitants, with the ambition of becoming an exporter of agricultural products, the minister underlined the importance of this meeting, which brings together institutions, experts, academics and professionals.
“We are here to lay the foundation stone for real qualitative change in our sector. We want to restore its value to the land, to the fellah its dignity and to the citizen its food sovereignty,” declared the minister at the opening of this national conference, in which several ministers took part, such as that of Start-ups, Higher Education and Scientific Research, in addition to professionals from the sector.
The priorities, according to the minister, focus on achieving self-sufficiency in strategic crops, good water management, infrastructure development, support for start-ups, but also the digitalization of the sector.
Increase the cereal yield to 40 quintals/hectare
The Minister of Agriculture, who insisted on the need to adopt a modern vision of the agricultural sector, made a diagnosis of the sector, pointing out the fact that the resources available to the country are underexploited. In this sense, he mentioned the low exploitation of agricultural land, estimated at 3.6%, the yield of cereals which remains lower than that of other countries, i.e. 18 quintals/hectare, far from world standards, as well as the low productivity of dairy cows.
He also noted losses of 20 to 30% in agricultural production, in particular due to limited storage capacities, also citing a low rate of use of modern irrigation techniques.
The ambition, according to the minister, is to achieve a yield of 35 to 40 quintals/hectare for cereals within five years. “It is achievable,” said the minister, with the help of everyone’s efforts. He thus pleaded for the launch of “a revolution in water management by increasing drip irrigation”, and called for “establishing a unified national information system for decision-making based on precise data” and “relying on technologies developed in universities and start-ups”.
Strategic projects in the sector
To achieve all the objectives set, the Department of Agriculture will work within the framework of a defined action plan capable of meeting the challenges and achieving the objectives set.
The eight workshops, which will be led during the two days of this conference by local experts as well as those from the diaspora, will focus on defined themes capable of improving agricultural efficiency and yields.
This involves intensifying production in strategic sectors to achieve self-sufficiency, sustainably managing water resources, modernizing agricultural equipment to guarantee productive efficiency, establishing a modern agricultural financing and insurance system, digitizing the agricultural sector and building an integrated information system, resolving the issue of agricultural land and restructuring agricultural sector institutions and simplifying administrative procedures. Noting the participation of more than 1,000 experts, Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid was keen to emphasize the need to exploit the strong potential of Saharan agriculture, affirming that “the future of agriculture is in the South”, given the various resources, such as energy and water resources. Assets that are able to encourage local and foreign investments.