Zaghouan: The various regional directorates in the Zaghouan governorate announced on Monday the start of the harvest of 33,000 hectares of barley for the 2023 - 2024 agricultural season. The grain harvest in Zaghouan governorate for this season is estimated at around 380,000 quintals, or 44% of the average production over the last five years, said head of the crop production department at the Regional Agricultural Development Authority (French: CRDA), Ali Hammami. At a meeting held on Monday at the governorate headquarters to prepare for the smooth running of crop production, the authorities concerned also announced the start of the durum and soft wheat harvest next Thursday, covering an estimated 30,000 hectares. In a statement to TAP, Ali Hammami, stressed that all procedures had been put in place to ensure a successful harvest, including the development of agricultural roads to combat fires, the monitoring of collection and storage centres, and the maintenance of 168 combine harvesters. Recommendations made at the meeting included the need to comply with storage conditions and the terms of the agreement signed with the Grain Board, as well as ensuring that storage centres continue to operate on a daily basis and facilitating grain transfer procedures. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse