Ras Al-Ayn: farmers want to sell crops in Turkey

After two months from the harvest in the Turkish-held Ras Al-Ayn region, farmers are still unable to sell their crops, amid complaints of the slow marketing process from Tal Abyad to Turkey during the past month.

Buyers are exploiting the situation to push the farmers to sell at very low prices, with one trader, known as Al Boushi, going from buying wheat from farmers at $130 to $125.

Mohamed Issa, 50, was forced to sell his barley crop at 160 SYP/kilogram ($70/Kg) because of the delay.

Issa said that the local council asked them to create a PTT account as a first step towards the marketing of their crops, without any results so far. Despite Turkey setting the prices at 1175-1650 TP per ton of wheat and 1000-1100 TP per ton of barley, buyers are not paying more that 350-360 SYP for the wheat crop.

The delay in opening the border gate and the dispute over who should run it are a couple of the reasons for the hindrance.

The taxes that will imposed on farmers is likely to be similar to the percentage specified in Tal Abyad, where the farmers are also complaining about the slow process due to corruption and favoritism towards products and merchants associated with the factions. By August 10, 120 people had had their turns, while between 350–400 trucks have been waiting for a week.

The farmers who get their turns deliver their crops to the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) near the border gate, where specialists determine the purity and quality of the crop and fix a price. After 20 days of marketing, around 75 farmers received the price of their crops via the PTT bank account.

The Syrian National Army, the Local Council and the Shamiya Front represented by the company “Sanabel” share 15% of the farmers' crops in exchange for marketing them, which the farmers pay to avoid being exploited by merchants.

Last week, the local Tal Abyad council announced that the TMO, in cooperation with the Agriculture Office, will continue to receive farmers' crops until the entire crop of the Peace Spring region has been marketed, including Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad.

Zaman Al Wasl