Heavy rains flood farmland in northern Morocco, threatening winter crops

Heavy rainfall continues to affect parts of northern Morocco, flooding large swathes of farmland in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, particularly across the Loukkos basin and areas between Larache and Tangier, local farmers said.

Prolonged rainfall has turned fields into standing water, threatening winter crops including wheat, barley, oats and alfalfa, and raising the risk of significant agricultural losses.

Farmers in several rural communes of Larache province, including Rissana South, Souaken and Oulad Ouchih, said they were struggling to drain flooded fields.

Some farmers have resorted to using pumps to remove water from their land as rivers and irrigation channels overflowed following days of intense rainfall.

Sugar beet producers have been particularly affected, farmers said, with plots submerged for extended periods. Prolonged waterlogging is known to severely damage sugar beet plants, raising the prospect of sharply reduced yields or total crop loss in some areas.

Karim El Moulates, a farmer in Souaken, said water had covered fields for weeks, destroying crops in several plots.
“The damage is significant, and uncertainty is affecting all farmers, especially sugar beet growers,” he told local media, calling for clarity on how sugar processing facilities would manage the situation and compensate affected producers.

He said farmers currently had no effective way to drain excess water, raising broader questions about agricultural infrastructure and drainage capacity in the region during periods of heavy rainfall.

“The hope is that weather conditions stabilise in the coming weeks so the land can dry and allow intervention to salvage what remains,” he said.

In Oulad Ouchih, farmer Rachid Kribesh said flooding had cut access to fields for several days, preventing farmers from harvesting fodder for livestock. As a result, farmers and herders have been forced to rely on purchased feed and straw, significantly increasing costs.

Kribesh said losses were expected to be substantial this season despite the benefits of rainfall for water reserves. He called for urgent intervention and support measures to help farmers cope with crop damage caused by flooding across large areas of arable land.