COTONOU, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Agricultural production in Benin registered a 13.2 percent growth during the 2016-2017 agricultural season compared to the previous season, a government official said Thursday.
"The agricultural production growth registered during the season has been driven essentially by incentive measures taken by the government to support producers," said the country's Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishery Delphin Koudande Thursday at a ceremony of the 2017-2018 agricultural season in the city of Ketou, some 100 km southeast of the economic capital Cotonou.
According to the minister, a total of 1.814 million tons of cereals have been harvested in the 2016-2017 season in Benin, representing an increase of 10.41 percent compared to 1.643 million tons over the previous agricultural season.
Meanwhile, the production of root and tuber crops, which are mainly cassava and yam in Benin, registered a 14.13 percent increase, going up from 6.128 million tons in 2015 to 6.994 million tons in 2016, said Koudande.
According to the official, the production of industrial crops has also witnessed a rapid growth, with a 30.11 percent increase in cotton and a 24.44 percent increase in pineapple.
"Regarding these agricultural production results for the season 2016-2017, Benin has a good food availability and the food situation will remain more or less stable over the (2017-2018 production) year," said Koudande.
