mpr21
26 January 2025
Until
recently, agriculture in the Sahara Desert was confined to oases. This
traditional farming owed its success to ancestral knowledge developed in
the shade of palm trees.
Since the 1980s, it has been practiced
in vast desert areas using sprinklers that allow for the irrigation of
fields up to 40 hectares. To achieve this, Saharan agriculture faces
enormous challenges: water availability, high temperatures, distance
from consumer markets, energy costs, and financing.
Thanks to the
southern climate, markets are now supplied year-round with tomatoes,
peppers, zucchini, and other vegetables. This type of activity has
attracted farmers from the north of the country and young people seeking
employment. Investors like the Souakri Group have launched projects to
produce cherry tomatoes on a large scale for export to Europe.
Among
the successes of Saharan agriculture, potato production in the Oued
Souf region, in the far southeast of Algeria, holds a special place.
Initially an experiment, the development of one-hectare sprinkler
irrigation systems has allowed for its expansion thanks to the
participation of farmers with limited resources.
Today, the
desert produces a large proportion of the potatoes consumed in Algeria.
In February 2022, agricultural services estimated a potato production of
400,000 tons in Oued Souf.
The development of greenhouse
horticulture is another aspect of the new desert farming that is rapidly
expanding. In 2016, in the Biskra region, the total value of crop loans
granted to farmers by seed traders was estimated at 530 million dinars,
and the El Ghrous market in Biskra alone is frequented by more than 500
farmers and 120 wholesalers.
Sugar beet production in an arid zone
One
of the successes of large-scale cultivation is the production of animal
feed. With the production of maize to feed livestock, the Menia region
has enabled Ghardaia to become a dairy hub.
Algeria has begun to
rely on the Sahara to produce much of its milk. Last year, a project was
launched to create a giant farm with 270,000 cows—the largest in the
world—in the Adrar region.
The investment amounts to $3.5 billion
to produce powdered milk, animal feed, meat, and grains. The money
comes from both Algeria and the Qatari Baladna Group.
The same is
true for wheat cultivation in Adrar, Menia, and Timimoun, in which the
Italian BF Group is participating alongside the National Investment Fund
with $400 million. Production reaches more than two million tons,
including seeds used in cases of drought in the north.
Sugarcane: From the Tropics to the Desert
Another
project involves producing sugar from sugar beets and sugarcane in the
desert. Sugarcane is already being cultivated in the south by
small-scale farmers who sell sugarcane honey. There is also an
Italian-Algerian sugarcane cultivation project in the Hassi El Gara
region of Menia.
Regarding sugar beets, a private investor conducted initial trials in 2022 on several dozen hectares in Gassi Touil (Ouargla).
An
Algerian private company will also produce sugar beets and operate a
processing plant with a capacity of 500,000 tons per year in the
provinces of Menia, Ouargla, and Ghardaia, covering a total area of
over 285,000 hectares.
Meanwhile, a state-owned company will
produce sugar beets and processing beets, with a capacity of 60,000
tons, in the provinces of Ouargla and Touggourt, covering an area of
more than 20,000 hectares.
Sugar production in arid regions is
not new. With the Canal sugar refinery, located 250 kilometers south of
Cairo, Egypt is developing irrigated sugar beet cultivation. The country
has extensive experience in agronomy and logistics.
Source: https://mpr21.info/el-desierto-del-sahara-es-la-futura-despensa-de-argelia/
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