(Reporting by Mohamed Al Hussein; Translation by Yusra Ahmed)
Cotton production in the northeastern province of Hasaka has severely declined this year affected by almost five-year-old conflict that combined with lack of insecticides and fertilizers besides decrease in the planted land amid the absence of a real reliable statistics, local farmers said.
Many farmers in Abo Rasin area, one of the most important cotton growing areas in the northern countryside of Hasaka.
The harvest has started in the beginning of September and about to get finished. The production showed significant deterioration in the amount of the crop which forced some farmers to sell crop to sheep owners to feed them because the production would not cover the cost.
Hussein al-Barho, a farmer, told Zaman Al Wasl via a phone call that his field area was more than 40 Acres and workers have finish harvesting on Tuesday, the amount of harvest reached to 50 bags of 150 kg capacity, which means that each Acre produced less than (200 kg) compared to (350450) in previous years.
Al-Berho explained that his field was affected by worms which devoured cotton bells before opening due to lack of pesticides and agronomists and observers in the region. The farmer confirmed that most farmers look for agronomist or expert in the whole region of Ras Alain, Abo Rasin and Tal Tamer, but they do not find anyone to accept going with them to check the yield and determine the type of disease so farmers apply their own experience to save as much as possible of the harvest.
On the other hand, Rajab Salameh, Head of the Plant Production Department, spoke to “Furat newspaper” the regime’s one, and said: “The total area planted with cotton reached to 7 thousand hectares as a result of the statistics of the specialized departments in the Directorate of census, compared to 45 843 hectares of the area in 2010”. Moreover, he expected the production for the current season to reach to 28 thousand tons compared to of 250 thousand tons as average production for previous years before the revolution, and 60 Thousand tons in last year.
SANA, the regime’s news Agency reported that Amer Salo, the Director of Agriculture in Hasaka, confirmed that cotton's harvest of this year would be collected from farmers in the "collection Centre" which is supposed to be established in Guerran neighborhood in Hasaka city, in addition to grant encouraging financial compensation to farmers who are interested in marketing their crop to the collecting centre in the city of Hama.
Farmers in the province of Hasaka face many difficulties in planting and growing cotton, safety and security is most important as battles take place over vast areas of their fields and farms, besides the high cost of seeds, fertilizer, and workers who migrated out of the country.
Cotton is one of most crops which needs lots of continuous efforts and work for almost six months, from April to October each year, starting with farming and preparing land, agriculture and cleaning the lands from weeds then fertilization and individualization, with frequent regular irrigation which need precise control, until the harvest time in the beginning of September. All these steps need a large number of workers and amount of fuel, all that has become difficult to afford under the current circumstances in the country.
Cotton production in the northeastern province of Hasaka has severely declined this year affected by almost five-year-old conflict that combined with lack of insecticides and fertilizers besides decrease in the planted land amid the absence of a real reliable statistics, local farmers said.
Many farmers in Abo Rasin area, one of the most important cotton growing areas in the northern countryside of Hasaka.
The harvest has started in the beginning of September and about to get finished. The production showed significant deterioration in the amount of the crop which forced some farmers to sell crop to sheep owners to feed them because the production would not cover the cost.
Hussein al-Barho, a farmer, told Zaman Al Wasl via a phone call that his field area was more than 40 Acres and workers have finish harvesting on Tuesday, the amount of harvest reached to 50 bags of 150 kg capacity, which means that each Acre produced less than (200 kg) compared to (350450) in previous years.
Al-Berho explained that his field was affected by worms which devoured cotton bells before opening due to lack of pesticides and agronomists and observers in the region. The farmer confirmed that most farmers look for agronomist or expert in the whole region of Ras Alain, Abo Rasin and Tal Tamer, but they do not find anyone to accept going with them to check the yield and determine the type of disease so farmers apply their own experience to save as much as possible of the harvest.
On the other hand, Rajab Salameh, Head of the Plant Production Department, spoke to “Furat newspaper” the regime’s one, and said: “The total area planted with cotton reached to 7 thousand hectares as a result of the statistics of the specialized departments in the Directorate of census, compared to 45 843 hectares of the area in 2010”. Moreover, he expected the production for the current season to reach to 28 thousand tons compared to of 250 thousand tons as average production for previous years before the revolution, and 60 Thousand tons in last year.
SANA, the regime’s news Agency reported that Amer Salo, the Director of Agriculture in Hasaka, confirmed that cotton's harvest of this year would be collected from farmers in the "collection Centre" which is supposed to be established in Guerran neighborhood in Hasaka city, in addition to grant encouraging financial compensation to farmers who are interested in marketing their crop to the collecting centre in the city of Hama.
Farmers in the province of Hasaka face many difficulties in planting and growing cotton, safety and security is most important as battles take place over vast areas of their fields and farms, besides the high cost of seeds, fertilizer, and workers who migrated out of the country.
Cotton is one of most crops which needs lots of continuous efforts and work for almost six months, from April to October each year, starting with farming and preparing land, agriculture and cleaning the lands from weeds then fertilization and individualization, with frequent regular irrigation which need precise control, until the harvest time in the beginning of September. All these steps need a large number of workers and amount of fuel, all that has become difficult to afford under the current circumstances in the country.
Zaman Al Wasl
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