HM King Mohammed VI enquired on Tuesday , about the development project of date palm in the oases of the southern cities of Ouarzazate and Zagoura, carried out for an amount of 239 million dirhams ($30.8 million).
    The king was given details on the five-year project which benefits 9,248 farmers and spans over 16,000 hectares.   The date palm cultivation will be boosted with the introduction of 420 vitro-plants which could resist the Bayoud disease, the cleaning of clumps for 155,000 palm trees, the upgrading of the irrigating network along 50 km, the implementation of ten hydroagricultural projects and the training of farmers.

    Part of "Green Morocco Plan", the project seeks to raise the region's production of dates to 32,000 tonnes by 2020, against 16,000 tonnes currently, in addition to the creation of 352,000 jobs.

    On the same occasion, HM the king followed the presentation of development project of Skoura oasis (Ouarzazate province) that will benefit 1,000 farmers. The project’s first phase is worth 18 million dirhams.

    Stretching on an area of 2,000 hectares, the project seeks to double the current production of 2000 tonnes and increase olive production to 4,200 tonnes.