Algeria's grain output up 14.3 percent

Algeria's grain output reached 4 million tonnes for the 2015 harvest season, up 14.3 percent from last year, the head of the country's grain agency (OAIC) said on Tuesday, according to APS state news. The North African country, one of the world's top wheat importers, has implemented measures to increase output, including boosting storage, providing incentives for farmers to apply more fertilisers and the use of more certified seeds.
"We reached 40 million quintals of durum and soft wheat and barley," Mohamed Beabdi, the head of OAIC, told APS. "We have managed to avoid catastrophe," he said in reference to bad weather conditions this year. Belabdi said soft wheat production accounted for only 1 percent of total cereal output for 2015, which he described as satisfactory. "Algeria will always rely on imports of this commodity (soft wheat) because of unfavourable climate conditions," he said.