Wheat seed provided by US Agency is being tested: AANES official
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – The wheat seed provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is being tested and awaiting the results, Salman Barudo, co-chair of the Economy and Agriculture Board of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said on Thursday.
Barudo’s statement came a day after the Directorate of Agriculture of the Syrian government in Hasakah said, “the seeds provided by the American company have agricultural pests.”
In Mid-November, the USAID announced it will send three thousand tons of wheat seed to northeast Syria, with the aim of “helping Syrian farmers.”
“We sent a report to the US Agency asking for clarification and assurances about the viability of seeds for germination in northeast Syria, but we have not received a response yet,” North Press reported Barudo.
In a previous statement, the USAID said “Syrian farmers’ request for assistance, after drought and conflict factors and low-quality seeds which led to a poor wheat harvest in northeast Syria, was behind sending the wheat seed.”
“This caused a shortage of seeds for this year’s planting season and raised concerns about future crops and food supplies,” it added.
The Economic and Agriculture Board circulated to the agricultural committees and directorates not to distribute seeds until the test results are confirmed, according to Barudo.
However, the Agricultural Society Development Company in some departments in northeast Syria distributed quantities of seeds to farmers.
The tests that wheat seed undergoes are carried out in the laboratories of the Seed Multiplication Corporation. These tests include immersion of the seed in water and ensuring its suitability to the climate and soil conditions in the region.
The results of the test will be released next Monday, Barudo noted.
The upcoming agricultural season poses a challenge to the AANES, after a year of low production due to drought, worsened by Turkey’s reduction of the flow of Euphrates water towards the Syrian territory.
The price of wheat seed was set at 1,200 Syrian pounds by the AANES, which has begun distributing it early this year, while the average price in the markets has reached 1,700 SYP.