Rabat – Farmers are trading in the northern Moroccan, for example, saying, “If March is flowing, April Hattil and Mai Safi Saqqil, two -thirds of boyhood refers” to refer to the climatic conditions necessary to achieve an abundant product, and these conditions are heavy rains in March and with a lower percentage in April and a clear atmosphere in May.
The Kingdom is witnessing heavy rains that Moroccans have not seen for years due to the succession of drought years, which exhausted water resources and frustrated farmers and livestock breeders.
A state of optimism spread among the farmers, and their hopes of remedying the current agricultural season, which witnessed the irregular rainfall, in strengthening the waterbed, raising the stocks of dams, and increasing the pastures.
The effect of Atlantic currents
With the beginning of the current month of March, Morocco witnessed heavy rains on a large part of the country after it dominated the region throughout the high -air -high -air winter (semi -tropical air pressure system whose center is located near the Azur Islands in the Atlantic Ocean) and caused a large deficit in rainfall.
The official of the General Directorate of Meteorology, Hussein Bouabid, told Al -Jazeera Net that the weakness of this air elevation in conjunction with the strengthening of Atlantic currents led to the penetration of a series of Atlantic depressions of the Moroccan atmosphere, with which large quantities of rain and important snowfall on the highlands.
He added that the country took place a week ago under the influence of a deep and wide air depression, called “Jana” left important quantities of rain and snow, and the flow of western and western southwestern currents continued, which contributed to the sustainability of rain over continuous days.
According to the data recorded for the total rainfall between 1 and 14 March for the various regions of the Kingdom, Bouabid revealed that the areas most benefited from rain are mainly stationed in the north, the Middle Atlas, the countryside and the northern Atlantic plains.
Especially high quantities have been registered in each:
- From Chefchaouen (281.2 mm)
- Tangier (254.2 mm)
- Erban (238.0 mm)
Bouabed explains this abundance of the geographical location of these areas, which are directly affected by the wet currents coming from the Atlantic Ocean, which creates favorable weather conditions for rain.
Benbu: The water resources that were stored thanks to these rains will enable the frequent interruptions of drinking water as it occurred last summer in a number of regions, especially in Doukkala and Al -Haouz ponds
Stock of dams and ponds
As for the agricultural engineer in the region of Fez Meknes, Adel Saad, the recent rainfall was a lifeline to save the agricultural season and to avoid frequent drought due to climate changes that affected the changing pattern of climatic seasons.
Whereas, the expert in the environment and climate, Mohamed Benabu, said that the rainy rains contributed to raising the stocks of dams and water basins.
The dams witnessed a noticeable increase in the total water stocks from 10 to 12 March 2025, as it received during the period water imports of about 232 million cubic meters, which is almost equivalent to the annual water consumption of the city of Casablanca, according to data of the Ministry of Equipment and Water.
The total percentage of filling dams reached 32.3% until Friday, with water resources of 5440 million cubic meters.
- The filling rate of the unit dam, the largest dams of the Kingdom, was about 44%
- The filling rate of the warehouse valley dam was about 83%
- Mohamed V dam was about 61%.
Benopo said that these water resources, which were stored, thanks to these rains, will enable the frequent cuts of drinking water, as it occurred last summer in a number of regions, especially in Doukkala and Al -Haouz basins.
As for Al -Hussein Bouabid, he sees that these falls will contribute to reducing the rain deficit since the beginning of the season.
The national average rains since the first of September 2024 until now is about 102 mm, an increase of 70% over the past year, but it is still 24.1% less than the usual annual average.
He added that it constitutes a positive boost for water resources and agriculture, but it has not reached the sufficient percentage of filling the accumulated deficit in recent years.
The internal or ground waterbed did not recover, as it needs a long time to fill it after it was diligently drained during the successive years of drought.
Spring crops
Spring crops are of great importance in Morocco and come second in terms of importance after autumn crops, and include cotton, especially chickpeas, dry beans, and oil seeds such as sunflower, corn, vegetables (potatoes, onions, carrots and zucchini). This production can be covered by covering the internal needs of vegetables in the summer.
Mohamed Benabu said that the current March rains are important for spring plantations, as Morocco is always betting on it as an alternative to the autumn and winter crops in the event of delayed rains or irregularity, pointing to a positive impact on fruitful trees, especially acids, bonds and olive trees.
Al -Falahi, Adel Saad, said that these rains will improve the cost -effectiveness of crops such as grains, cotton, barley, lentils and beans, in addition to increasing the vegetation and pastures that will have a positive impact on livestock.
And if the current March rains affected the improvement of the surface waterbed and the saturation of the soil, which farmers have seen through the high level of water in wells and water holes, then the internal or underground waterbed – according to Benbu – did not recover, as it needs a long time to fill it after it was drained significantly during the successive years of dry dryness.
Optimism and caution
Experts emphasize the need to work to achieve the maximum benefit from the current March rains to enhance the agricultural sector, which is vital for the country’s economy, as it represents 14% of the crude internal product and constitutes a source of living of 80% of the villagers.
The agricultural engineer, Adel Saad, stresses the need to use modern methods of watering to avoid wasting water and also growing agricultural products that do not consume the waterbed significantly to maintain the water stock for years to come in light of climate changes witnessed by the world in general and the Kingdom of Morocco in particular.
As for Mohamed Benbu, he warned that optimism about these heavy rains does not mean ignoring the fact that Morocco is still suffering from water stress, so it calls for continuing to raise the level of vigilance in the use of water resources.
A report issued by the African Center for Strategic Studies and Digitation last month showed that Morocco moved from the stage of water scarcity to water stress.
The report expected that Morocco would lose about 30% of water resources annually on the horizon of 2050, while the average annual consumption of water is 606 cubic meters per people.
He pointed out that the water crisis in Morocco is no longer confined to the rural areas, but rather it has become comprehensive, as it extended to the urban and semi -urban areas threatening to provide drinking water to a large part of the population.
According to the report, the amount used from ground or internal water (3.68 billion cubic meters annually) exceeds 240 million cubic meters of sustainable exploitation (3.44 billion cubic meters annually), and most water brushes suffer from a decrease in water levels, which may lead to depletion in some areas.
