Food Security: Tebboune Orders Enhanced Cereal Oversight

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has issued directives for reinforced and digitized monthly monitoring of cereal production, a key initiative aimed at bolstering national food security. During a Council of Ministers meeting, President Tebboune instructed the relevant minister to establish a monthly bulletin and tasked wilayas with ensuring precise follow-up. This oversight will involve accurately determining the production rates and quantities of various cereal types, particularly soft and durum wheat, across the country.

Further strengthening the agricultural sector, the President mandated the immediate digitization of the harvest payment system across regional agencies of the Algerian Interprofessional Cereals Office (OAIC). This measure will involve close collaboration with the National Office of Statistics. Additionally, President Tebboune called for a re-evaluation of the OAIC's role and that of specialized agricultural institutes, with the objective of enhancing their performance and modernization. He also underscored the importance of combating all forms of malpractices within the agriculture, rural development, and marine fisheries sectors.

To advance towards greater self-sufficiency and reduce imports, the President ordered the preparation of a more effective agricultural orientation law. This new legislation will incorporate mechanisms to align cultivated areas with annual production needs. Complementing these efforts, a national program for soil analysis is to be launched in coordination with laboratories to identify and classify the nature of agricultural lands. President Tebboune also advocated for expanding the use of treated wastewater for irrigation, aiming to decrease reliance on rainfall, and emphasized the necessity of consistently plowing and preparing lands, with the hydraulics sector targeting a 60 percent recovery rate of wastewater.