ALGIERS: Algeria and Italy on Saturday signed a 420-million-euro deal ($455 million) for an agricultural project in the North African country, the Algerian agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The scheme, which Italian officials called their country`s largest agricultural investment in the southern Mediterranean, covers 36,000 hectares (89,000 acres) in Algeria`s Timimoune province.

It will produce wheat, lentils and beans, among other foods, in the hopes of increasing Algerian non-hydrocarbon exports, officials said during the agreement ceremony.It is also expected to create 6,700 jobs, they said.

The deal came months after Algeria signed a $3.5 billion agreement with Qatar`s largest dairy producer Baladna to establish a vast cow-breeding facility for the production of powdered milk. Saturday`s agreement was part of Algeria`s strategy to expand production areas in its desert south to 500,000 hectares, Algerian officials said.

The project is also in line with the goals of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni`s `Mattei Plan`, which is aimed in part at reducing irregular migration from Africa via investment in the continent.-AFP