Boujemaa FASSIH
(Laboratory of Agro-Food, Biotechnologies and Valorization of Plant Bioresources (AGROBIOVAL), Department of Biology, Faculty of Science Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, 40000, Morocco)
Argania spinosa (L.) is a horticultural forest endemic to the arid and semi-arid zones of south-west Morocco. This species is adapted to the harsh conditions and plays an important socio-economic and ecological role in Morocco's sustainable development. However, this crop faces multitude of constraints, notably drought, which has a negative impact on the density and success of reforestation. The use of current techniques such as traditional field transplanting is characterized by higher failures, hence the importance of researching new technologies and biological methods to avoid this challenge and consequently improve the success of argan reforestation, conserve the environment and preserve biodiversity. The aim of this work is to evaluate the potential effect of applying Subsurface Water Retention Technology (SWRT) using biodegradable plastic in the reforestation process of the argan forest. Results obtained after 8 months of transplanting show that the application of SWRT improves reforestation success by 97.19%, soil moisture by 64.58%, aerial elongation by 85.23%, stomatal conductance by 69.43% and chlorophyll fluorescence by 92.16%. Thereby, this technology could be an efficient tool to promote efficient reforestation of the argan forest in Morocco.
Keywords: argan forest, subsurface water retention technology, reforestation, soil moisture
Boujemaa FASSIH
(Laboratory of Agro-Food, Biotechnologies and Valorization of Plant Bioresources (AGROBIOVAL), Department of Biology, Faculty of Science Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, 40000, Morocco)
Prof.
Mohamed Ait-El-Mokhtar
(Lab. Biochemistry, Environment & Agri-food URAC 36, Dept. of Biology, Faculty of Science and Techniques – Mohammedia, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Mohammedia, 28800, Morocco)
Prof.
Abderrahim Boutasknit
(Centre d’Agrobiotechnologie et Bioingénierie, Unité de Recherche labellisée CNRST (Centre AgroBiotech-URL-CNRST-05), Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, Morocco)
Prof.
Raja Ben-Laouane
(Lab. of Environment and Health, Dept. of Biology, Faculty of Science and Techniques, Boutalamine, Errachidia, 52000, Morocco)
Prof.
Abdelilah Meddich
(Laboratory of Agro-Food, Biotechnologies and Valorization of Plant Bioresources (AGROBIOVAL), Department of Biology, Faculty of Science Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, 40000, Morocco. Lab. Biochemistry, Environment & Agri-food URAC 36, Dept. of Biology, Faculty of Science and Techniques – Mohammedia, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Mohammedia, 28800, Morocco)
Prof.
Said WAHBI
(Laboratory of Agro-Food, Biotechnologies and Valorization of Plant Bioresources (AGROBIOVAL), Department of Biology, Faculty of Science Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, 40000, Morocco. Lab. Biochemistry, Environment & Agri-food URAC 36, Dept. of Biology, Faculty of Science and Techniques – Mohammedia, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Mohammedia, 28800, Morocco)
