Effect of irrigation on the recovery of young argan plants after transplanting to the field

This work is part of the research program supporting the ‘’ Argan Project ‘’. It is coordinated by the Agrotechnologies Association of Souss-Massa-Draa (Agrotech) in partnership with a consortium of researchers on the argan tree. The purpose of this work is to determine the favorable doses and frequencies of irrigation for a better recovery of argan plants after transplantation in three sites belonging to different agro-climatic zones; Taksbite on an ocean climate plateau, Anzad on a mountain foothill with continental climate and Tinzert with a mountain geography and climate. The results of this work showed that the dose of 16 L/plant and the frequency of one month are recommended for the Taksbite site. However, on the Anzad site, results demonstrated that the dose of 36 L/plant and both frequencies, 1 and 2 months, are recommended. Similarly, the dose of 35 L/plant and the frequency of 2 months were more efficient at the Tinzert site. Finally, this experiment revealed the existence of a great heterogeneity within argan population mainly due to its great genetic diversity and its adaptation to the agro-climatic conditions of each plantation site.

 Keywords:  Argan tree, irrigation, regeneration