Syrian government to receive 20% of expected wheat production
HAMAH, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, the Syrian Minister of Local Trade and Consumer Protection, Talal Barazi, talked about the necessity of taking the best procedures and necessary arrangements to receive “every grain of wheat” from the farmers.
The minister’s talk contradicted a statement by the Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, yesterday, that the government will receive only 20% of the previous estimates of the wheat production of the current season.
Yesterday, the Syrian Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Hassan Qatna, said the government will receive 300,000 tons of wheat, after he had earlier expected that the year’s production would be about 1.5 million tons.
The minister linked the “miscalculation” to the climate and drought of this season, which led to the decline in the rain-fed wheat and barley crops.
The Syrian government called this current agricultural season as a “Wheat Year”.
Earlier, Qatna expected the production of barley to reach 2.200 million tons, while what could be received did not exceed 450,000 tons.
Barazi called for providing all the necessary facilities to ensure that the wheat crop is delivered to the grain receiving centers of the Syrian Grain Establishment.
The General Director of the Syrian Grain Establishment, Youssef Qassem, said that giving farmers the price of wheat that was delivered to the government’s centers “will be done at full speed without any delay.”