Damascus-Sana
The General Organization for Seed Multiplication announced that it is ready to distribute 37 thousand tons of sifted and sterilized wheat seeds to farmers to start implementing the wheat crop cultivation plan for this season.
The Director General of the General Organization for Seed Multiplication, Dr. Bassam Al-Suleiman, stated in a statement to SANA that the total quantity currently available at the establishment is 83 thousand tons. I called it the "year of wheat", amounting to about 120 thousand tons of seed.
Al-Sulaiman confirmed that the corporation began the process of distributing seeds, as the quantities shipped to the branches of the Agricultural Bank to sell to farmers reached about 15 thousand tons so far, pointing out that an agreement was signed with the Syrian Foundation for Grains to draw quantities of wheat in its possession to cover any excess demand for seeds in case the stocks run out The establishment has to test these quantities to ensure their suitability for use as seeds.
Al-Sulaiman pointed out that there are difficulties encountered in the work, including the acute shortage of technical staff of engineers, electricians and mechanics, the screening centers and the need to renew them, especially the centers such as Farbhum in Hama and Daraa, which are the two main centers of the institution, in addition to the shortage of mechanisms and the existing ones, and the lack of infrastructure such as warehouses and regular scraps for storing seeds. And the continuous blackout is what leads to irregularity in the work of the screening centers and the difficulty of securing production requirements as a result of the siege conditions imposed on Syria and the instability of its prices.
Al-Sulaiman pointed out the necessity of providing the institution with the technical elements and mechanisms necessary for its work, including field cars and trucks, and ensuring continuous feeding to the screening centers or increasing the number of working hours for generators.
Ghossoub Abboud