In total, 940,000 hectares, out of 1.194 million, were sown with cereals in Tunisia until January 25, 2024, according to data published Wednesday, January 31 by the National Agricultural Observatory (Onagri). (Illustration: fertilizer distribution).
These areas cover 803,000 ha in the north and 137,000 ha in the center and south. Some 560,000 ha were sown with durum wheat, 25,000 ha with soft wheat, 346,000 ha with barley, and 8,500 ha with triticale.
Irrigated cereal areas reached 82,837 ha, or 99% of the planned areas (83,000 ha), compared to 72,000 ha during the same period last season. These lands include 60,000 ha of durum wheat and 22,000 ha of barley.
Some 174,000 quintals of selected seeds were made available to farmers in the regions, in addition to 8,000 quintals which were sold directly by production companies.
As for the progress of the chemical fertilizer supply operation, the supply rate for superphosphate (TSP 45) reached 51% (15,180 tonnes delivered out of the 30,000 tonnes planned), 45% for diammonium phosphate (DAP) (68,221 tonnes delivered of the 150,000 tonnes planned) and 34% for ammonium nitrate (86,000 tonnes delivered of the 250,000 tonnes planned).
Onagri also indicated that the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT) has a stock of 4,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate at the Gabès center and 17,000 tonnes at the Goubellat storage center in Béja.
Regarding forage crops, the areas sown with autumn forage are estimated at 251,000 ha (80% of the scheduled area) until January 25, compared to 279,000 ha during the same period last season.
This drop in sown forage areas is mainly due to the rainfall deficit recorded during September, October, and November 2023 in most production regions and to the drop in the quantities of seeds available.
Irrigated forage areas reached 36,400 ha as of January 25, or 77% of the programmed area. This category of crops also experienced a decline during the previous season, mainly due to the decline in dam supply and the decrease in groundwater resources in irrigated areas.
The forage area irrigated with treated water reaches 661 ha out of the 826 ha planned (61%).
As for legume crops, 68,800 ha are planned for the 2023/2024 season, including 2,500 ha of irrigated crops.
For industrial crops, 21,000 ha of rapeseed are planned for the 2023/2024 campaign, compared to 8,400 ha cultivated during the 2022/2023 campaign. The area sown to date has reached 20,000 ha despite the drought.
Onagri also indicated that an awareness program was carried out among producers in the different rapeseed-producing regions.
