The 4CE-MED Algerian stakeholders attending the meeting were 12 members including 3 females, representing farmers, training and technical institutes, Cooperative, farmer association representatives and university researchers. The platform will be open to new members in the future.
After welcoming the attendance, Mr HANNACHI Abderrahmane and BENIDIR Mohamed gave a general presentation of the 4CE-MED project, its main objectives and a brief description of the project’s WPs and the preliminary results of the first year of the project. The presentation was given in Arabic to better communicate with farmers. The results presented concern the behavior of Camelina, and some results related to yield components, phenotypic traits. Camelina cultivated for the first time in Algeria showed good performance despite the severe climate conditions this cropping season (drought for long time).
It is worth to note that bees visited intensively the Camelina plots, which explains its melliferous characteristics.
A debate has been opened between the participants to discuss and to identify the socio-economic and technical barriers and opportunities for the adoption and dissemination of Camelina in the cropping systems as cash cover crop in Algeria. Participants expressed the interest to introduce Camelina for replacing fallow and its specificity as low inputs crop. Given the dominant cropping system is based on cereal- fallow. In addition to its agronomic interest as a cover crop protecting the soil and limiting water loss, Camelina can improve farmers’ incomes. For the barriers to the adoption of Camelina are technical like sowing mode (small seeds), weed management, harvesting (grains loss) and socioeconomic: absence of market for this crop. Currently, the government policy towards the food oilseed sector is the development rapeseed crop.
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Finally, a demonstration of Camelina oil extraction was given for the attendance
At the end, the participants wished good success to the 4CE-MED project.