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Rabat – Morocco’s government has introduced a subsidy allocated for the imports of 2.5 million metric tonnes of soft wheat from July to September.
The National Professional Office for Grains released a circular on June 23, providing that the program will support importers on a monthly basis covering the difference between the cost of wheat and the reference import price of MAD 270 ($27) per quintal.
The program will primarily benefit people who seek to import wheat from Russia, Ukraine, France, Germany, Argentina, and the US.
The grant exclusively concerns the planned quantities of wheat to be imported by storage institutions like grain and legume unions, as well as Moroccan agricultural cooperatives and their unions.
The fund comes amid concerns about insufficient wheat production in the agricultural season of 2022-2023 due to adverse climate conditions such as drought.
In April, Morocco’s Agriculture Ministry reassured citizens that cereal production is expected to rise by 62% in 2023 compared to the previous season.
According to the pledges, cereal production is expected to reach approximately 55.1 million quintals, up from 34 34 million quintals in the previous agriculture campaign, noting that soft wheat production is forecasted to make up 29.8 million quintals of the overall volume of cereal production this year.
Meanwhile, durum wheat is set to reach 11.8 million quintals, and barley 13.5 million quintals.