3.3.1 Agriculture

For agricultural analysis only the data regarding the municipality of Moualine El Ghaba, located in the northern part of the study area, have been found (Ministere de l’agriculture et de la mise en valeur agricole-Direction regionale des eaux et forets nord-ouest de Kenitra, 1998).

Lands can have different legal status:

• melk, private property;
• collectif, cooperative property;
• domanial, government property;
• habous, religious property.

In Moualine El Ghaba municipality (surface of 32,081ha) the agricultural land is considerable amounting to 17261ha (54%), while forest land cover represents 42% and pastures with not-arable land 4%. In comparison, in Morocco agricultural land is 12% of the total area. In Figure 16 the land cover distribution is shown, sorted by legal status. Most agricultural land is private (Figure 17) while pastures and forests are entirely domain.

70% of the farms are smaller than 10ha whereas the most frequent size is from 5-10ha (33%). These figures significantly differ from the national average where the 70% of the farms are smaller than 5ha and the most frequent size is the 1-5ha (48%).

In Figure 19 area crops distribution is reported. The main crops cultivated (72%) are cereals with wheat (55%), durum wheat (28%), barley (8%) and oat (3%). Depending on soil characteristics the yields of a graminoids can range from 6q/ha in very poor and shallow soil to 40-60q/ha in the tirs with a mean value of around 20q/ha. Leguminous yields vary from 20q/ha to 60q/ha like graminoids. The crop calendar is shown in Table 21.

Horticulture is primarily for family consumption and constituted by pulses, mint, potatoes, onion, tomatoes and green peppers on small plots.

Arboriculture is not important in the area. Some small vineyards, mostly table grapes, as well as olive trees, almond trees, prune trees, pomegranate trees, and avocado trees are present.

Mechanisation is adopted mainly in farms bigger than 10ha for soil cultivation and harvesting. One tractor is available on average for every 87ha, much better than the national average (1/250).

Animal farming, together with agriculture is the basis of the rural income of the area. Figure 20 shows the animal composition of the area, that is influenced by a strong demand for meat coming from the neighbour cities of Casablanca, Mohammedia and Bouznika.

Table 21 - Crop calendar of Ben Slimane province

The most important sector is the sheep and cow breeding, while goat breeding is limited, because of the grazing restrictions introduced in 1927 in the Ben Slimane forest. This law was emitted in order to try to protect the forest and to permit its natural regeneration; nevertheless the animals that live on forest products are too numerous and degraded forest areas are widespread. Animals feeding is linked to the distance from the forest, that constitutes the main fodder input. A herder that lives near the forest exploits its products all year, whereas one who lives further prefers to cultivate part of his land with fodder; industrial fodder is used only in good economic conditions.

Usually water is not a limitation, unless during drought years.

Cork collection is not a main activity and apparently no technical training has been done for a better exploitation.

On poor soil, with erosion process, agriculture and life condition are quite under stress.

The agricultural system is focused on extensive grazing (semi nomadism type) with cultivation of graminoids and pulses. Not many cows and sheep are present (around 10 per each animal type per farm). The cow milk production is about 1-3 l/day and related to the low quality of the feedstuff. The milk is sold to the processing factory of Casablanca and the price varys between 2.3DH/l in February and July and 3DH/l in August and January.

The average farm size is smaller than 10ha (usually around 3-5). These soils are mainly cultivated with durum wheat, barley, oat, white lupin and bean with traditional agricultural systems. Mechanisation is not always present; in the poorest condition or in stony soil all the work is done with only animals and human labor. A typical rotation is durum wheat/white lupine/fallow, but also cereal/cereal, cereal/fodder (barley, oat) and cereal/pulse. The cereal yield ranges from 6q/ha in the dry season to 15-20 in the humid one; for pulses it is around 10. The Government gives a contribution of 320DH/q of wheat. Generally fertilisers are used, especially N; the distributed quantity depends on the household income.

Interviewing the farmers, usually kind and happy to meet new people, was very useful. During the interviews it was possible to get information on the cost of life of this kind of household. Generally every week the man goes to the souk to buy food for the family and sometimes to sell animals, usually spending around 250DH/week. In the house there is not electricity and the families always need to go far to get water because they have no wells. The important part of incomes is given by animal products. All the houses have a small plot cultivated for family consumption with tomato, mint, onion, and others horticultural crops.

In better soil condition, the agricultural system becomes more articulated, rich, and variable. These farms present property extensions ranging from 10 to 20ha. The life conditions are better and the household could have a car and/or a tractor, but in general there is no electricity. The houses are clean and animal stables are separated.

Usually the owners have enough technical knowledge for high-income agriculture even if the main crops are graminoids and the agricultural system is focused on annual field cropping (fallow system cultivation). In the majority of cases all agricultural practices are mechanised. A farmer, who owners a tractor, can earn an extra income working the soil for other farms usually for the price of 150DH/ha.

A constant limiting factor for this property type is the absence of irrigation water that impose an extensive agricultural system.

A possible crop distribution of a 18ha wide farm could be:

• 10ha of cereals like durum wheat and wheat;
• 4ha of barley or white lupin used for fodder;
• 4ha of fallow, grazed;
• a small plot with horticultural crops: mint, potato, tomato, and pumpkin.

Crops rotation is durum wheat/white lupin/fallow, but also cereal/cereal, cereal/fodder (barley, oat), and cereal/pulse.

Fertilisers are applied twice a year on cereals like wheat: the first time with 100kg/ha of P and K before sowing, the second time before flowering with 50kg/ha of N. The harvest is done from April to the end of May.

Animal presence is variable: usually about 10 cows and a variable number of 10 to 100 sheep.

Milk production is around 2-5l/day per cow and it is sold to the Casablanca factory.

In some cases the land is exploited with olive trees, fruit plantations (almonds, avocado, pomegranate, peach) and vineyards. It is important to stress that this kind of land use is uncommon but it represents a promising solution to improve farm incomes.

Vineyards can be present, in general for direct consumption but also for vinification, in fact Ben Slimane province is famous for Cabernet wine.

In big farms (extension more than 20ha) modern agricultural techniques are applied to obtain higher yields. In general the farmer is also the tractor owner and application of fertilisers is widespread. Nevertheless inside these farms a segmentation process occurs because the owners prefer to rent single plots of land that are located far from their house or because they have another job in the city. In this way, agricultural and social development is slowed down and it is not possible to obtain only reasonable land improvements. In this farm size some big co-operatives and state-owned farms are also present. The land extension can reach 100ha or more, with an average value around 30-40ha.

Nevertheless there is an extensive agricultural system focused on animal production and cereal cropping with a good crop diversification. On vertisols, a typical rotation is: cereals/legumes or cereals/legumes/fodder. The cultivation of legumes (bean, chick pea, pea) is more present than in the other farm classes. Cereal yields vary from 25 to 60q/ha, with an average of around 30. Hay production is around 80-100bales/ha (16-20q/ha). Fertilisers are applied, especially N and also pesticides are used.

All operations are mechanised and sometimes the farmer is the owner of the machines.

Animals are widely present. A farmer can have 20-40 cows and 50-200 sheep. A plot is always left for grazing. Milk production is usually higher than in the other classes, ranging from 5 to 15l/day per cow.

Wells are always present inside the property; in the best condition, as at the base of basaltic rocks, many wells can be found due to water rising.

Arboriculture is found in small plots near the houses of medium and big farms and in the eastern part of the study area, along the Oued Sefrou and Oued Nefifikh. Very few data were collected due to the fact that only marginal areas are cultivated in this way, but some examples can give an idea of this kind of agriculture.

These orchards are visible in the 1985 and 2000 Landsat images, appearing as red spots.

In Sefrou and Nefifikh valley well-developed pomegranate orchards can be found. An example is given in Figure 21. The plot size is around 2-5ha and the trees are 20 years old. The planting distance is 5x5m and the trees are 4-6m tall and in healthy condition. Flowering time is in April. Irrigation is manual with a pump drawing from Oued Sefrou.

In the same area, olive trees plantations of 5-10 years are present around the houses; they are small in size (0.5-1ha), but well kept and the production is for table consumption. The planting distance is 4x4m and now the trees are 3m tall. The plots are not irrigated.

Another example is the almond tree plantation of 3.5ha founded in the North part of the study area. The trees were planted in 1981 and now are 3m tall The almond tree variety is unknown.. The terrain is levelled and trees are planted in rows 2x5m (1000trees/ha). The agricultural practices performed in the orchard are irrigation, fertiliser and pesticide application, and tree substitution, but the soil is never worked. Irrigation is performed after the flowering every 15 days through watering points and pipes. The quantity is not dosed but the farmer gives the water until the soil is wet. A ternary fertiliser (NPK) is applied to each tree. The pesticide (unknown type) is applied three times a year during winter time, in the flowering period, and when the trees have small fruits. The owner is not interested in high production: he is not a farmer and lives in Casablanca, so temporary workers are employed. The harvest is done in August and almonds are sold on the tree at 17,000DH/ha; the buyer will harvest and sell them. The yield ranges from 3 to 10kg/tree (3-10t/ha).

The wind is a limiting factor so some fields are fenced with trees or a barrier to protect them. Inside these plots it is possible to find a mix of trees like apricot trees, peach trees, prune trees and, fig trees, with few plants for each species. In some cases the interlines are cultivated with beans or other horticultural crops for family use.

Some examples of agricultural areas are shown in Photo 10 - Photo 13.

Photo 13 - The Dayas are a valuable grazing resource throughout the year

---