Lack of wheat seeds in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor foreshadows losses for next season
DERI EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – The lack of agricultural allocations of seeds and fertilizers foreshadows losses in the coming seasons, an official of the Agricultural Committee of the Eastern Region of Deir ez-Zor Civil Council, east Syria, said on Tuesday.
On November 4, the Agriculture Committee in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), began distributing licenses to farmers, and set a plan to support them with their agricultural allocations at suitable prices to avoid losses.
“The amount of seeds received is not enough for the farmers’ allocations, and the grown quantity will cause losses. The possibility of not having seed for the next season is high,” Jundi al-Te’mah, co-chair of the Agriculture Directorate in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor said.
“The amount received is 4% of the farmers’ entitlement in a region where agriculture is a major source of income,” he added.
The Agriculture Committee received 125 tons of urea fertilizer, 50 tons of organic fertilizer, and 185 tons of wheat seeds, according to al-Te’mah.
“To meet the needs of the farmers according to the total agricultural areas in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, we need 50,000 tons of fertilizer, and 60,000 to 70,000 tons of wheat seeds,” the official noted.
The next crop season poses a challenge to the AANES after a year of low production due to the draught caused by lack of rain, which has coincided with Turkey’s holding the flow of the Euphrates towards Syria for about a year.
In mid-November, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) sent 3,000 tons of wheat seeds to northeast Syria, with the aim of “helping the Syrian farmers there.”
Al-Te’mah called on the international organizations to assume their responsibilities in supporting the agricultural sector, which is the mainstay of life and income for the residents of the region, in order to avoid losses, as happened last season.