Hommam Al Nassim 
Moroccan Agriculture Minister Mohamed Siddiqui predicted that Morocco would lose about 20% of the cultivated area this year due to the effects of drought.
“For autumn and winter plantings, the cultivated area reached 2.5 million hectares, compared to 4 million hectares we used to record in normal years,” Siddiqui said during a session of the Moroccan House of Councilors (the second chamber of the Moroccan parliament).
“Of the 2.5 million hectares of cultivated area, 20 percent will be lost due to drought,” Siddiqui said.
The start of Morocco’s agricultural season this year saw a delayed rainfall, threatening a new year of drought that will negatively affect agricultural production.
Morocco suffers from continued drought and reduced rainfall, which has caused a water deficit of about one billion cubic meters.
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