Algeria gets good rainfall in grain sowing season

Mon Nov 22, 2010

By Lamine Chikhi

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria's grain-growing regions had good rainfall during the sowing season, a vital ingredient for a strong harvest, official figures obtained by Reuters showed.

Algeria, with a population of about 35 million, is the world's fifth biggest importer of grain. The volume of imports fluctuates according to the size of its domestic harvest, which depends heavily on good rains.

Figures collated by the Agriculture Ministry's National Institute for Soils, Irrigation and Drainage (INSID), showed that rain levels between September 1 and November 7 compared favorably to conditions at the same time last year.

"We have had a lot of rain, and a lot of rain now is never a bad thing," INSID Director-General Mohammed Habila told Reuters in an interview.

Reuters calculations based on the INSID figures for the period showed that the average minimum rainfall for all Algeria's main agricultural areas was 81.3 millimeters, compared to 78.3 mm for the same period last year.

Last season's grain harvest was 4.56 million tonnes. This was below the record 6.1 million tonnes in 2009, but it was comfortably above the average for the past decade.

Algeria has in the past experienced poor harvests when grain-growing regions have not received the necessary minimum of rainfall, as most land under cultivation is not irrigated.

Agronomists say the Algerian grain crop requires rain during two periods: the sowing season, where moisture is needed to create the right soil conditions for the seed to develop, and in March-April to ensure the plants mature properly.

Algeria has 3.3 million hectares of land under cereals cultivation. It has a strategy to reduce dependence on rainfall, and this year will implement a series of new measures which it hopes will increase the grain yield. These include:

* Seed varieties supplied to farmers are currently of good quality, according to INSID Director-General Habila. In previous years, Algeria had problems with seed quality.

* Habila said that the country already had sufficient stocks of fertilizer to treat one million hectares of land -- more than in previous years -- and would continue to acquire more during the season.

* Officials say irrigation will be more extensive and better organized. Habila said 500,000 hectares of land will be covered by a coordinated system of back-up irrigation, under which the ministry will issue alerts to start irrigation when conditions require it.

* The Agriculture Ministry has created a "Club of 50" which will reward farmers who achieve yields of 50 quintals (5 tonnes) or more per hectare. Only 17 farmers reached this level last season.

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE6AL0CP20101122?sp=true.