Conservation agriculture in the eastern countryside of Hama ... Reducing production costs and optimal investment of water resources

Hama-sana

The conservation agriculture method in the eastern Hama countryside is witnessing a great expansion and spread due to the decrease in precipitation rates and the scarcity of water resources, which encouraged farmers to follow this method due to the increase in production and reduction of costs, especially in winter crops.

Eng. Mukhlasa Yunus, head of the Agricultural Extension Department in Hama, stated in a statement to SANA's correspondent that this method of cultivation is suitable for lands and fields located in the second and third settlement areas in the eastern Hama countryside, such as Salamiya, Al Hamra, Saboura, and Soran to make better use of water resources and dispense with chemical fertilizers as well as its contribution In increasing soil fertility as a result of the accumulation of organic waste, reducing carbon emissions from the soil and reducing soil erosion.

Yunus explained that the conservation agriculture technique is the process of placing seeds and fertilizers by special seeders in narrow cracks in the unturned soil under the remnants of the previous crop and its benefits are to improve soil construction, increase its organic matter content, recycle nutrients, give a higher ability to trap carbon inside the soil and reduce the rate of The used seeds increased by 25 percent for lentils and 45 percent for barley, the provision of rent for two farmers for land, deep cultivation in the summer and superficiality before planting, and the yield increased upward by 20 percent in the first year, 25 percent in the second year and 30 percent in the third year.

Yunus indicated that as a result of agricultural extension efforts and proper planning in cultivating extension fields and raising awareness among farmers of the importance of this agriculture and its multiple benefits, the scope of conservation agriculture has expanded among farmers, which has achieved good productivity for them, stressing that conservation agriculture tends to be an alternative to the traditional farming system.

Engineer Rabia al-Hayek, head of the Agricultural Scientific Research Center in Salamiyah, Hama countryside, explained that this method helps in reducing desertification and soil erosion, increasing agricultural production and reducing its costs by controlling fertilizer and seed rates.

Hayek indicated that as part of the support provided to farmers wishing to implement this cultivation, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) UNDB distributed five seeds for this cultivation to farmers in the targeted areas for the cultivation of various crops, especially cereal crops such as wheat, barley, lentils and legumes.

Mahmoud Hazaa from the village of Al-Jajiya and Hussam Ali Ibrahim from Souran pointed out that the method of conservation agriculture achieved a rewarding production for them by cultivating the barley crop because it saved them the expenses and costs of at least two farmers while eliminating the weeding and removing harmful plants.

Conservation agriculture is suitable for various crops, especially cereal crops such as wheat, barley, lentils and legumes, and can be applied in fruit tree orchards.

Abdullah Sheikh