ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Ali al-Hussein, a 33-year-old Syrian farmer, needs a starting capital of 2.200.000 SYP ($333) just to plow his field in northern Aleppo. The high price is due to the increasing costs of diesel, fertilizers, as well as plowing fees.
Al-Hussein owns two hectares of arable land in the government-held town of Bayanoun. However, this year, he has decided not to cultivate it as a result of the high prices.
He was left with nothing but hay during last season’s harvest. He estimated his losses at about 250.000 SYP ($38) from diesel, fertilizer, seeds, and harvesting fees.
“Last year’s crops were disappointing, especially in non-irrigated lands, because of the drought,” the farmer told North Press.
High costs
The economic crisis sweeping Syria has impacted all aspects of life in the country. Agriculture is among the hardest-hit sectors. Farmers are increasingly putting down the plows and dedicating themselves to other professions as a result. The poor availability and high cost of diesel are among the reasons why.
Plowing a hectare costs 500.000 SYP ($76), according to Diab al-Ahmad, a 46-year-old farmer from the village of Dweir al-Zaytoun, in Aleppo’s northern countryside.
Al-Ahmad attributes the high plowing cost to the skyrocketing diesel prices on the black market, which is now being sold at 11.000 SYP ($1,60) per liter.
“Tractor owners cannot receive diesel even if they are registered with the government,” he said.
Al-Ahmad says that he buys fertilizer from the government at eye-watering prices. A ton of urea fertilizer can go for 3 million SYP ($455), super phosphate for 2.200.000 ($333), and nitrate for 1.650.000 SYP ($250).
Seeds prices, too, have risen. A ton of wheat seeds is being sold for 2.500.000 SYP ($379) and a ton of barley seeds for 1.950.000 SYP ($295). A ton of lentil seeds will put farmers back 3.250.000 SYP ($492).
To this one adds transport fees and other sums paid to the checkpoints of the Syrian government and the situation becomes unbearable.
Owing to drought, which has devastated the region for two years, embarking on non-irrigated agriculture is seen as an “adventure,” says al-Ahmad.
Abdul Magid Hamoud, 55, the mayor of Masqan, a town north of Aleppo, says, “Irrigated agriculture is more costly, but its production is good and acceptable, and the earnings meet the costs.”
Hamoud told North Press that “previously, farmers could bear the losses induced by failing crops because the costs were not as high.”
However, today, hundreds of hectares are left uncultivated in northern Aleppo as a result of the high costs, the mayor added.
“Had diesel, fertilizers, and seeds been government-subsidized, the matter would be different,” al-Ahmad says, “but the government’s absence is going to leave all agricultural lands barren.”