Cactus cultivation is one of the dominant activities in the Guelmim-Smara region, and the Green Morocco Plan has made it one of its battlehorses. The cactus production area extends along the entire Atlantic fringe of this region (which includes the provinces of Guelmim, Tan Tan, Assa-Zag, and Tata). The fruit supply period ranges from June to December. However, a large part of the production perishes on the vine due to a lack of adequate logistics.

Cactus yields per hectare vary from one year to another and from one farm to another depending on rainfall, density, variety, and the age of the plantation. The average yield in the area is estimated at 10 t/ha with a total production of about 24,000 t, of which only 50% is harvested and 2,000 t marketed.

In the opinion of local farmers, the constraints to the development of cactus cultivation mainly lie in the producers' lack of knowledge of modern cultivation techniques and the use of cactus products, the isolation, and sometimes the distance of potential cactus production areas, making the exploitation and marketing of production difficult under good conditions, while the marketing of cactus products remains random and does not meet the interests of producers. This is characterised by the multiplicity of intermediaries on the market and the absence of collection centres for prickly pear production. The associative fabric operating in the field remains in an embryonic state.

To remedy this situation, the regional implementation of the Green Morocco Plan relies on the injection of 135 million DH of investments by 2020, to double the planted area which today exceeds 20,000 ha. The Plan provides for significant germplasm that adapts to the conditions of the area and promises to provide better quality fruits that appear first on the national market and whose production will spread over a period that can go up to seven months. The Plan also encourages the creation of conditioning stations for this fruit, to transport them to national supermarkets, or even to Europe.