Idlib: Farmers recount their stories in searching for income

Reporting by Mohamed Kassah

(Eqtsad)- Agricultural seasons in both summer and winter provide temporary, but often abundant, employment opportunities for Syrians.

Idlib province, which is known as the green province in Syria due to the availability of vast agricultural areas has not deviated from this rule, as the harvest of the summer season this year secured the livelihood of hundreds of families in the region.

Ahmad works in harvesting cumin crop. It was not the smell of the aromatic smell that was Ahmad's attraction to this crop, but the material reward he would get for working hours in the harvest of this plant.

The 20-year-old could not stand up at work because of the length of the cumin plant which is only a few centimetres.

Ahmad was pulling the cumin out by his bare hands while some of the workers wore red and blue gloves to avoid the thorns in the crop.

"I was not doing anything before the harvest, so when I was offered this work I immediately agreed," Ahmad told Eqtsad.

Ahmed receives 300 Syrian pounds for every hour of hard work. "There are other plants, such as jilbans and lentils, where we get a higher price, not less than 400 liras per hour," Ahmad said.

"The wages are rising because of the difficulty of harvesting these plants apart from cumin," he added.

Ahmad works in towns near the city of Idlib, and the price he receives is average, according to him.

In relatively more remote areas, workers' wages decline. Abu Nihad, a 50-year-old man, had to work in the harvest in the town of Mastoma in the village of Idlib.

He told Eqstad, "the wages here are low, they give us 200 pounds per working hour regardless of the crop type."

The area where the man works is not successful in irrigated agriculture because of the lack of wells in its land. "There is a shortage of plantations and abundant labor manpower, so wages are falling," Abu Nihad said.

In contrast, farmers told Eqtsad that wages are rising in some towns such as Saraqib.

In vain, Mr. Ibrahim, a young man in his 30s from the city of Idlib, tries to work in Saraqib, harvesting the cumin and lentils. His attempts were unsuccessful because of his lack of knowledge of landowners and farmers responsible for agricultural crops in the area.

"I learned that they pay at least 400 Syrian pounds per hour, so I try to work in those areas," he told Eqtsad.

The man continues to harvest lentil despite the extreme heat in the area, so he wears a black cloth hat to avoid the heat.

Ibrahim and his companions work from 6 to 11 noon, and from 3 to 7 pm.

Unlike Abu Nihad, who is master of agriculture, he says that this is the first time they have worked as farmers, but in fact everyone is sharing good jobs that will bring them a good amount of money at the end of the season.