With the local development of crushing plants, including that of Cevital, Algeria aims to produce some of the oilseeds processed locally. The objective is to reduce annual imports of around one billion dollars by 30 to 40% and to produce its own table oils.
After having a bet for two years on rapeseed, the Algerian agricultural services are now encouraging the cultivation of sunflower. The objective is to cultivate 45,000 hectares during the current agricultural campaign. An ambitious program insofar as currently the sunflower surfaces are insignificant.
Algeria: priority for sunflower
The local industry has long remained confined to the refining of imported crude oil. With the development of oilseed crushing plants in Algeria, the oilseed sector is experiencing a new boom.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) notes that soybean imports increased from less than 150,000 tons in 2017/2018 to more than 550,000 tons in 2019/2020.
After the AGC-SIM crushing unit in El Hamoule entered production in 2020, it is Cevital’s which should be operational in April. On the site located at the port, the teams are busy 24 hours a day. In a statement to the APS agency, Ouazene Zahir, one of the project managers, indicates that the plant will have the capacity to crush 11,000 tonnes of soybeans, 6,000 tons of sunflower and 5,000 tons of rapeseed.
Finally, at the port of Djen Djen (Jijel), the crushing plant of the public group Madar should go into production at the end of 2023.
This activity should be accompanied by the production of co-products. The oilseed cake produced in this way should allow the manufacture of animal feed. Import volumes were reduced from 1.51 million tonnes in 2018 to 1.14 million tonnes in 2019.
Sunflower cultivation in Algeria: an ambitious program
The agricultural services have listed the areas likely to be grown in sunflower. According to Mohamed El Hadi Sakhri, head of plant production at the Ministry of Agriculture, the 45,000 hectares of sunflowers envisaged could find place at the level of the 600,000 hectares of fallow land.
It was during a recent meeting organized with the National Chamber of Agriculture that Mohamed El Hadi Sakhri presented the outline of the sunflower program and in particular its financial system.
This system provides for the allocation of bonuses: 3,000 DA per quintal to farmers, 500 DA per quintal to processing units having a contract with producers and finally 200 DA per quintal to Cooperatives of cereals and pulses (CCLS).
Sunflower: a hardy culture
Sunflower is not a totally unknown crop in Algeria. Trials were carried out at the end of the 1970s with respectable yields, despite the damage caused by birds.
Already grown in the Maghreb, sunflower has a yield potential of 15 to 20 quintals per hectare. It must still be able to benefit from an annual rainfall of 400 mm. Sunflower should make it possible to diversify crops in Algeria. Too many farms still suffer from the monoculture of cereals and the parasites associated with these crops.
The sunflower, however, presents handicaps. Sown at the end of winter, flowering occurs in spring with the risk that the rains are insufficient. This makes it necessary to reserve the best land for it. And as the plant has deep roots, plowing is essential, finally in calcareous soil, a boron supply is recommended.
To avoid any competition between the plants, a monograin seeder is essential. In the same way, at harvest, a specific cutter bar must be installed on cereal combine harvesters.
Not having this material in time means exposing the harvest to the voracious appetite of birds who love this type of seed. Finally, in case of irrigation, the supply of water must be positioned in such a way as not to favor the development of the leaves to the detriment of the flowers and their seeds.
Algeria: premature failure of rapeseed cultivation
Although rustic, the cultivation of sunflowers therefore requires know-how. If not taken into account, these particularities can lead to serious disappointments such as those experienced by rapeseed producers.
In 2020, when the rapeseed program started, private operators were authorized to import rapeseed seeds. Seeds in particular from the multinational Basf and the French group Lidea.
If during the first year, the results obtained were honourable, the following year was marked by the scandal of presumed non-compliant rapeseed seeds. A problem that concerned Lidea brand seeds. This incident occurred in a context marked by imports of wheat unfit for consumption and which in 2020 had led to the resignation of the director general of the OAIC.
Surprisingly, the rapeseed in question resulted in non-harvestable plots, while other plots sown on different dates obtained respectable yields. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had to set up a commission of inquiry.
Another disappointment in the summer of 2022: the heating of the big-bag type bags containing part of the rapeseed harvested. In the absence of ventilation, the natural respiration of the rapeseeds had caused the temperature of the bags to rise. Up to 40°C in some cases.
Finally, if for cereals, the existence of 460 mills distributed throughout the national territory makes it possible to shorten the distances to farmers and processors, in the case of rapeseed, during the 2 past campaigns, the existence of a single crusher located in El Hamoule (Oran) caused significant logistical costs.
Despite everything, the teams from the Institut Technique des Grandes Cultures who piloted the rapeseed program were able to present the first liters of rapeseed oil produced 100% in Algeria in the summer of 2022.
Considered a “ strategic ” crop, the sunflower program should be extended to the south of the country. Indeed, the allocation of agricultural concessions by the Office for the Development of Saharan Agriculture (ODAS) is made on the condition that the investors devote part of the area received to these strategic crops: sunflower and sugar beet .
Sunflower growing trials are underway in Ouargla. In El-Arfiane, Halima Khaled, agricultural engineer and director of a public farm, successfully tested different sowing dates.
Sunflower, learning lessons from rapeseed
In Algeria, the relative failure of the rapeseed program suffered from the sector’s lack of experience. At a rate of 9,500 DA per quintal with a potential yield of 25 to 30 quintals per hectare, errors related to sowing dates were financially detrimental to the farms concerned.
However, the Maghreb Oilseeds program aims to provide technical support to farmers. As the promoters of this program indicate: “Maghreb Oléagineux is a program initiated by Terres Univia, the French inter-branch organization for vegetable oils and proteins, and co-financed by the European Union. »
It aims to promote the interest of European rapeseed and sunflower seeds in the Maghreb. The sale of these seeds is accompanied by a transfer of technology through exchanges with technicians and farmers in the countries concerned.
Despite the importation of European seeds by Algerian private operators, Algeria has not participated and benefited from this program.
Although relatively simple, growing sunflowers requires some essential know-how. It would be regrettable if lessons were not learned from the mistakes that marred the rapeseed programme.
