Rehabilitation of food legumes in Sais region: Morocco

Abstract

In Meknes area, the monoculture of wheat has increased because this crop is subsidized by the Government. The monoculture of wheat poses the problems of diseases and pest and nitrogen deficiency in the soil. The re-introduction of food legumes in the rotation in the region can help overcome these problems. However, these crops (legumes) require high amounts of phosphorus fertilizer and the development of improved varieties tolerant to abiotic and biotic stresses. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the response of small faba bean to the increase of phosphorus fertilizer rates and to select adapted varieties of food legumes (Faba bean, chickpea and lentil to Meknes-Sais environment. In this report, only preliminary results are presented. The crops have just been harvested and we are in the process of analyzing the data.