Assessment Of Wheat Yield Potentials and Yield Gaps In Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan.

Wheat is one of the most important foodstuffs across North Africa and Middle East, including Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan. Domestic wheat production in each of those countries plays an important role in national economy and food security. However, the overall arid and semi-arid ecosystem conditions and lack of irrigation have hindered significant improvement in wheat yield, expansion of wheat growing area, and overall wheat production in some of those countries. As a result, wheat import has seen overall increase for the last five decades. It hence becomes strategically important to estimate wheat crop yield potentials under prevailing crop production conditions and technologies and assess wheat yield gaps in those countries in order to better allocate natural resources and technologies and adjust national as well as local policies for promoting food production and improving food security at both local and national levels. Following the methodologies and protocols developed by the Global Yield Gapa Atlas, or GYGA project (http://www.yieldgap.org/), we attempted to assess wheat yield potentials and yield gaps in those three countries based on the currently dominant cropping systems and production technologies. The results will be discussed in relation to cropping system characteristics, technology development, influence of local and national agricultural policies, as well as underpinning assessment approaches.