Advances field experiments on barley and table grapes in North-East Morocco

In the framework of the TWISTT-PRIMA project, our partner FPN-UMP (Faculté Pluridisciplinaire de
Nador — Université Mohammed Premier) is currently running an extensive set of field experiments
and trials in the north-east of Morocco. The campaign covers four barley sites and three table-grape
parcels, all under large-scale production conditions, in a typical Mediterranean climate zone located
20 km from the sea.

The objective of the 2025–2026 campaign is to quantify the physiological, agronomic and water-use
parameters of barley and table-grape crops grown under these specific Mediterranean conditions.
Across the seven sites, the team is collecting:

The barley trials started in mid-December 2025 and harvest is currently in progress; the table-grape
trials began in March and harvest is expected in September. The resulting datasets will feed the
modelling work carried out jointly with the project consortium, contributing new evidence on water
use and crop performance under Mediterranean conditions.


The campaign actively involves Master students in Plant Science and Biotechnology at FPN-UMP —
part of their fieldwork will be integrated into their final theses — together with local growers,
stakeholders, policy makers and national media.

Field activities — highlights from last week

1- Growth measurements on table grapes
Last week, the FPN-UMP team carried out growth measurements on the three table-grape parcels
included in the TWISTT-PRIMA campaign in the north-east of Morocco. These large-scale commercial
parcels are being monitored since March 2026 — when the table-grape season started — and harvest
is scheduled for September. The recurring growth measurements are key to follow plant development
across the season and feed the agronomic and ecophysiology dataset of the project, together with
photosynthesis, leaf area index and stomatal conductance

2- Soil analysis in barley and table-grape parcels
Soil sampling and analysis was carried out in both the barley and table-grape parcels of the north-east
of Morocco. This work is being performed by the Master students in Plant Science and Biotechnology
of FPN-UMP who are part of TWISTT-PRIMA — for several of them, the results will be integrated into
their Master thesis. Soil physical and chemical analyses are essential to interpret the water-balance
and ecophysiology data collected at each of the seven experimental sites.

3- Stomatal conductance and chlorophyll fluorescence in barley
At the four barley sites of the FPN-UMP partner, the team is measuring stomatal conductance and
chlorophyll fluorescence directly in the field. These two leaf-level indicators provide a direct reading
of the plant water status and photosynthetic performance — critical information to characterise crop
response under the Mediterranean climate of the north-east of Morocco, only 20 km from the sea.
The data feed the broader ecophysiology dataset of the campaign, together with photosynthesis and
leaf area index measurements

4- Barley harvest — yield, plant and root biomass
The barley harvest — started in mid-December 2025 and now in progress — closes the first crop cycle
of the 2025–2026 campaign. At each of the four barley sites, the FPN-UMP team is quantifying yield
together with plant and root biomass. Combined with the soil, water-balance and ecophysiology data
collected throughout the season, these measurements will feed the modelling work carried out jointly
with the rest of the TWISTT-PRIMA consortium and contribute to several Master theses at FPN-UMP.