RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Farmers in Syria’s Raqqa expect a decline in agriculture production due to the lack of expensive water, fertilizers, and pesticides due to the collapse of Syrian pound in conjunction with American Caesar Act’s implementation.
Ali Mustafa, a farmer from Kesra Afnan in south Raqqa, said that agricultural work is a waste of time in the light of the Caesar Act and the currency collapse, adding, “Plowing costs are more than the output, in addition to the high cost of fertilizers and pesticides that farmers do not use anymore.”
In Raqqa, a bag of fertilizer cost 50,000 Syrian pounds, while last year it was only 15,000 Syrian pounds, according to Mustafa.
Mustafa expects that cotton production on his land will decrease due to the fertilizer shortage this year, while last year cotton production reached 350 kilograms per acre.
Since the beginning of 2020, the American dollar has recorded a high exchange rate, at one point skyrocketing to 3,900 SYP for one dollar with the implementation of Caesar Act. However, in the past few months, the exchange rate decreased to 2,100 SYP on Sunday in Raqqa.
Since the implementation of the Caesar Act, a series of economic sanctions meant to pressure the Syrian government into a political solution, in June, the Syrian pound’s value has deteriorated, and markets all over the country witnessed a state of economic recession which negatively affected purchasing power.
Although American officials claim that the sanctions are only meant to affect the Syrian government and its allies, some analysts close to the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration are stressing that the sanctions will affect the whole region, including the Autonomous Administration areas.
Although Muhammad Helal, a farmer from Raqqa, has irrigated 30 acres through an irrigation canal from the Euphrates River, he planted rain-fed yields of watermelon seeds instead of high-cost corn seeds.
He pointed out that corn seeds’ price this year has doubled in Raqqa’s market. “Now one bag is 175,000 SYP while last year it was 45,000 SYP.”
Barivan Khaled, co-chair of Executive Council in the Autonomous Administration, told North Press on July 6 that trading through crossings would continue in order to ease the sanctions’ consequences, while they would not allow people’s movement as a precautionary measure to combat coronavirus.
The Autonomous Administration priced wheat crops at 17 cents after farmers complained that they paid for planting costs in dollars while they would sell their crops in the collapsed Syrian pound.
Ahmad Khalaf, a farmer from Raqqa, believed that farmers are getting a raw deal. “We are trading in dollars, but our land production is in Syrian pounds, while we buy agricultural supplies in dollars,” he said.
Plowing land costs 12,000 SYP per acre, while it was 5,000 last year, according to Khalaf.
He confirmed that labor wages have doubled after the sanctions, stating that “last year it was 1,000 SYP per worker per day, and this year it is 2,000 SYP.”