The Banque Nationale Agricole (BNA) Bank has allocated TND 120 million dinars to the grain sector, including more than 51 million dinars for small farmers, said Abderraouf Ajmi, Chief of Staff of the Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries. Speaking at an open day in Bizerte on Tuesday, organised by the BNA and the Ministry of Agriculture and dedicated to seasonal loans for crops, Ajmi said that this amount had been granted in the form of financing or through economic operators. For his part, Omar Djebeli, Central Director of Agricultural Credit at the BNA, reviewed the procedures and facilities provided by the bank to farmers in terms of financing, debt rescheduling and facilitating access to credit since August 2023, in addition to the new JINENE agricultural investment offer. During this awareness-raising event, the General Directorate of Agricultural Production of the Ministry of Agriculture highlighted the programming of 1.205 million hectares of land for field crops, including 88,000 hectares of irrigated land. To this end, the Ministry of Agriculture will provide around 180,000 quintals of selected seeds and 430 tonnes of fertiliser of all types, in addition to a number of funding lines. On the subject of preparations for the 2023/2024 agricultural season, the National Institute of Field Crops (INGC) pointed out that a programme to promote self-sufficiency in durum wheat had been drawn up with its partners. He added that 3,000 soil samples had been taken, including 400 in the governorate of Bizerte, and 1,217 seed samples, including 327 in the governorate of Bizerte. !3General!4

Source: EN - Agence Tunis Afrique Presse