(Ecofin Agency) - To boost farming in the Souk Ahras wilaya, in the North Eastern part of Algeria, 2686 deeds for State-held lands were awarded to private investors, according to Algerie Presse Service (APS).

“The attribution of the deeds for the lands that span 65,516 ha aims to boost investment and financing in agriculture. It falls in line with an inter-ministerial circular setting the conditions and modalities for exploiting agricultural lands owned by the State. Overseen by the parent ministry, the move also aims to revive agriculture, achieve self-sufficiency in regards to the production of some commodities and reassure farmers by providing them, besides the deeds, aid, in various forms, including irrigation equipment even,” said the head of the national office for agricultural lands (ONTA), Zineddine Meziani.

“Souk Ahras has a great potential for agriculture. This is looking at the performances of the Sidi Fredj and Ouled Idriss communities, respectively in regards to prickly pear farming in the first, cherry and fig farming in the second, that are both located in the Wilaya. There is also impressive results from saffron farming in the last community, started at the beginning of 2016, in the framework of a project aiming to diversify agricultural activities generating wealth and employment,” APS continued.