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The grain harvest for the 2015/2016 season will reach 14 million quintals, according to preliminary estimates, against 13 million quintals recorded last season, Deputy Director of Directorate General of Agricultural Production in the Ministry of agriculture, Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane told TAP.
A final evaluation of the grain harvest will be conducted at the end of May, the official said, recalling that the Ministry of Agriculture had conducted a preliminary assessment during the month of April based on climatic factors.
The harvest will start in the first week of June, at the latest, by taking into consideration two main factors; i.e. wet conditions in fields and the acceleration of the crop before the month of Ramadan, said Ben Romdhane, adding that, given the climatic conditions, the total area to be harvested amounted to 810,000 ha, from a total of 1 million 200 thousand hectares sown, against 935,000 hectares sown last season.
Ben Romdhane said the amount of rainfall recorded during the months of April and May 2016 have contributed to improving the situation in areas cultivated in most of the north-eastern and north-western regions.
The coverage rate of rainfall from the start of the season until mid-May, reached has 78% (372 mm) in the country's north-east and 87% (415 mm) in the north-west, while for the center and south, the situation is considered difficult, except for irrigated areas.
© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2016
