On Tuesday, 6 May 2025, was held a field visit at Lalla Takerkoust with 15 students from North Carolina State University (NCSU) and two interns from University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P). This activity was led by Mr. Larbi Didouqen, an Agroforestry consultant at HAF (ex Director of a National Park in Morocco).

At Lalla Takerkoust, HAF is developing collective land of 40 hectares, to be planted by cactus, and olive, argan, and carob trees. A part of the land has already been planted with cactus among which some have reached the fructification stage. Relevant and interesting information was shared about the Cactus, as well as the different parts and physiological stages of the plant.

Indeed, Mr. Larbi gave the delicate situation of Cactus from 2015, after the invasion of cochineal cactus, a devastative insect that destroyed most of the cactus plantations. Since then, the price of both the fruits and the seedlings of cactus have been increasing, placing the cactus fruits as the most expensive such fruits. For instance, the seedlings went from 0.2 dirham before 2015, to 4 dirhams right after 2015, to 15 dirhams at the present moment.

However, the cactus plantation is commonly accepted to be one of the most lucrative fruit productions, demanding less water and maintenance to yield correctly. This explains why it went from a secondary production only used, back in the days, as a fence to delimitate farms and prevent livestock invasion, to a full primary plantation with a clear economic goal.

Also, a very key information was shared about why HAF chose the traditional variety/breed instead of the improved ones (height of them) developed by the national research institute of agriculture to resist the cochineal cactus (the most fearsome pest). Actually, the quality of the fruits from the improved breeds is not as desired as the traditional one. HAF opted for the traditional one with the desired quality of fruits, while maintaining and treating with biopesticides as soon as those insects appear.

Furthermore, the group went across an autochthonous plant, the white wormwood (Artemisia) with several medicinal virtues among which its deworming attributes. Then, the exploration continued until the borehole on the site. The reality here was that, although it is a hard time to get a borehole (140 meters depth for the existing one), only one as a source of water is not enough for the entire 40 hectares of land. Thus, another borehole is to be drilled before planting the rest of the land with trees.

Finally, a few questions and answers occurred showcasing the rich and diverse background of the NCSU students and shedding more light on the overall activity of HAF, before a recreational activity and a lunch in nature.