MOROCCO TOMATO CONFERENCE 2026

21 MAY 2026 | AGADIR
Les Dunes d’Or Congress Hall - Agadir

Program

08:00 – Registration & welcoming of delegates
09:00 – Opening speeches

Session 1: Tomato Market Trends

09:30 – Analysis of the global tomato trends: production and market dynamics
Ali Rougui
Morocco Foodex / Morocco

09:55 – Tomatoes Then, Now, Next: “How to respond to the changing landscape of consumption in Europe?”
Wilco van den Berg
GroentenFruit Huis / The Netherlands

10:20 – Future Morocco-EU Agricultural Trade Relations
John Alistair Clarke
Special Trade Adviser / Belgium

10:45 – Q&A (15 min)

11:00 – Panel discussion 1:
Diversify or depend: is it time to rethink markets for Moroccan tomatoes?
Ali Rougui, Wilco van den Berg, John Alistair Clarke

11:30 – Coffee & Networking (30 min)

Session 2: Major Challenges Facing Moroccan Tomato Growers

12:00 – Emerging tomato viruses: current knowledge-based and global advances for tomato virus management
Rachid Tahzima
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) / Belgium

12:25 – VIRTIGATION Project: EU-Mediterranean Experience on Innovative Field-ready Solutions for Durable Management of ToBRFV and the geminiviruses TYLCV and ToLCNDV
Hervé Vanderschuren
KU Leuven / Belgium

12:50 – Q&A (15 min)

13:05 – Panel discussion 2:
Fighting ToBRFV: insights from scientists, seed companies, growers, and regulators
Rachid Tahzima – Hervé Vanderschuren – Esserrhini Laraisse – Michael Bledsoe (TBC)

Session 3: Strategies and innovations in tomato cultivation for a resilient future

13:35 – Overview of the Mexican Greenhouse Tomato Production Model: From Nursery to Market
Jorge Flores Velazquez
Colegio de postgraduados / Mexico

14:00 – Q&A (15 min)

14:15 – Lunch break (1h30)

15:45 – Panel discussion 3:
Advancing greenhouse tomato production in Morocco through insights from the Mexican model
Ahmed Chraibi – Jorge Flores Velazquez – Hicham Fatnassi – Arnauld Thery

16:15 – Implementing holistic hygiene from seeds to packhouse for ToBRFV risk reduction on-farm – a grower’s perspective
Michael Bledsoe
Cid Lines / USA

16:40 – Coffee & Networking (30 min)

17:10 – Management of tomato crops under rainy conditions in Agadir region
Paolo Battistel
Ceres / Morocco

17:35 – Q&A (15 min)

17:50 – Panel discussion 4:
Agricultural Labor Strategies: Cross-Sector Insights for Tomato Production
Driss Soufiani – Otman El Qacimi – Kamal MachaAllah

18:20 – Feedback – recommendations

18:30 – Conference ending