(Eqtsad)- Tobacco cultivation has re-emerged in Daraa province as war ends in the southern province after bloody years in the cradle of the Syrian revolution.
Fathi al-Muhammad, agricultural engineer who was dismissed from his governmental job, said that the cultivation of tobacco was prosperous before the revolution and was one of the most important economic crops practiced by dozens of families in Daraa because of its economic payback.
Tobacco agriculture has witnessed a sharp decline during the revolution because of the inability of farmers to access their land, the lack of availability of production requirements, working population and the link of marketing exclusively to the institutions of the regime.
The seven-year-old war had heavy impact on Tobacco farming due to the level of spaces or production.
The demand for tobacco cultivation will be greater in the next few years if it continued to be quiet in many areas, especially as agribusiness remains the only source of income for most families, who preferred to stay in their villages despite the poor security and economic conditions in the country, according to al-Muhammad.
Since the eighties, tobacco farming has been integrated into agricultural plans in Daraa as one of the important income-generating agricultural. Thus It reached a good level in the nineties of the last century, exceeded the areas planted with tobacco at the time about two thousand hectares and start to decrease again year by year, as a result of farmers suffering from marketing difficulties due to the regime’s control and monopoly of marketing.
A source from the Syrian Agriculture Ministry pointed out that about 40 hectares planted with tobacco in 2018 out of the agricultural plan for tobacco during 2018, amounting to 2000 dunums.
Tthe expected production of cultivated land estimated at about 60 tons, explaining that the marketing of the tobacco crop, is exclusively through the regime’s institutions, which receive the crop according to specific criteria.
The production is concentrated in areas that remained under the authority of the regime, pointing out that prices are subject to the quality of production, according to standards developed by a number of experts.
Tobacco types are classified according to their quality (to excellent grades, good and acceptable) and the price of the kg of dry tobacco, ranging from 1200 to 1800 kg.
Abu Dahi, 59, farmer, said that the cultivation of tobacco was one of the most important thing for income, pointing out that this agriculture, although difficult but it is one of the crops guaranteed results and profits if it met Adequate attention.
He indicated that his experience in this field, which has been going on for many years, gave him considerable skills in dealing with this type of agriculture, especially since its basic components, such as the suitable agricultural land, climatic conditions, working support and a stable water source, are available.
Abu Dahi, who own 2.5 hectares in the western countryside of Daraa, said the availability of water is one of the encouraging factors in the interest in this type of agriculture; despite its large tiring and the passage of production at relatively long stages lasting about ten months.
He pointed out that this agriculture which appeared unwilling for many farmers but it was providing hundreds of seasonal working opportunities for families, as it takes a long period of operations from harvesting to production after drying up, where the families get the amounts Financial as a large wage.
He added that one of the most important issues facing the cultivation of tobacco in Daraa governorate at present is the lack of enough and necessary water due to the decrease in rainfall in the past years and the great damage caused to irrigation networks as a result of military operations.
In addition to that, the irrigation networks has been vandalized by some saboteurs, as well as high costs as a result of high wages of the working population , prices of the production requirements and control items, the absence of government support and guidance due to security conditions.
Ibrahim Al Ali, farmer, stressed that he stopped paying attention to this agriculture and turned to the interest in growing vegetables and crops, despite his ability toward tobacco cultivation, which he practiced before the revolution for many years.
He pointed out that the jihadist faction's control, in some areas, and their war against this type of agriculture, based on the Sharia, and the marketing problem to the regime’s areas, was one of the most important reasons that led farmers to leave despite the profits.
It is noteworthy that the cultivation of tobacco, had stopped in Daraa since 2012, despite its presence in the annual agricultural plans, which is developed by the Directorate of Agriculture system in the region, but it began to appear again in conjunction with the return of relative calm that began to occur in some areas of the South Syrian About a year ago.
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