DERIK, Syria (North Press) – The herds of pigs coming from the Turkish border have damaged agricultural crops in the countryside of Derik, in the far northeast of Syria, while farmers are unable to guard their lands at night due to concerns about Turkish gendarmes.
Damages this year are concentrated in the villages of Ain Diwar, Zehairiyah and Jam Sharaf, near the Syrian-Turkish border.
Destroying crops
Abdulrahman Muhammad, farmer from Derik countryside, said that the percentage of damage to his cultivated land due to pigs has reached 25%.
While an area of more than 50 hectares in the village became a breeding ground for the herds of pigs which dig the ground in search of a plant to feed on.
Herds of pigs destroyed wheat and coriander crops after their farmers plowed their land and spent too much money on them.
“Pigs have damaged the coriander, fenugreek and wheat crops, we have been badly damaged,” he added.
Herds of wild animals are hiding in the forests close to the Turkish border, which raises farmers’ fears that the Turkish soldiers may target them if they deploy in these areas searching for these animal.
“Killing is the only way to get rid of them. We cannot go close to the Turkish border to chase them in their dens in the forests for fear that we will be targeted by the Turkish soldiers,” he noted.
Turkish Gendarmerie
Another farmer from the village named Sherwan Khalil, said that he plowed his land in preparation for planting summer vegetables.
Khalil pointed out that he and many farmers of the areas close to the border had not cultivated their lands in previous years due to Turkish forces’ presence.
“We have been able to cultivate our lands only for two years. Before that, we were not able to cultivate them because they are close to the border with Turkey,” he added.
This provided a suitable environment for the spread of herds of pigs in the forests on the banks of the Tigris River, he stated.
In November 2020, two farmers from Derik countryside were injured by Turkish border guards’ bullets while they were cultivating their land.
Another farmer lost his life in May, 2020 by the Turkish gendarmerie’s bullets in the border village of Derena Aghi in the town of Rumailan near Derik.
Farmers in the village of Zehairiyah said that they were able to kill 30 of these pigs on the outskirts of their village, while the number of pigs attacking their fields near the borders reached about 60.
Summer crops
Summer vegetable farmers fear that they will face losses again.
In 2020, pigs destroyed large areas of both watermelon and melon crops.
Farmers in the border village of Zehairiyah are afraid of incurring losses, as the herds of pigs have previously damaged their crops without being compensated.
Ali Haji, farmer from Zehairiyah village said: “Last year, our loss was great, we lost and we were not compensated.”
Haji decided to refrain from planting melons this year, after he lost all his crops last year, “the melon crops were damaged; we got nothing from the melon we planted. I had planted two hectares of melon, but we got nothing from them.”
It is preferred to plant varieties that do not attract these animals, such as onions, tomatoes and cucumbers.
“I may plant tomato, cucumber or onions, as for the crops that cause us losses, we will not plant them,” Haji added.
Salah Hamza, co-chair of the Agriculture and Livestock Corporation in the city of Derik, said that farmers from the border villages had not file complaints about the damage to their crops this year by pigs.
“We need to guard those lands, and that is difficult because the area is close to the Turkish border,” he added.
Hamza indicated that attempts to get rid of pigs by putting poison were futile, because their numbers are large.
He also believes that killing these pigs is a difficult task because it reaches the outskirts of the villages in the early morning.