Aleppo-Sana
The cotton crop maintains its advanced rank among the strategic crops that are relied upon in agriculture in Syria, despite the obstacles and difficulties encountered in the cultivation and production of this crop by farmers, which led to the shrinkage of the cultivated areas, as the areas implemented in the cultivation of the cotton crop for this year reached 24 thousand hectares out of the planned plan To cultivate 40 thousand hectares, with an implementation rate of 62 percent.
Engineer Walid Razzouk, director of the Cotton Office, said in a statement to SANA reporter that the agricultural plan for this year was reduced from 78 thousand hectares to 40 thousand hectares at the country level in the governorates of Hama, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Al-Hasakah and Aleppo due to the difficulties and obstacles that hindered implementation, including the lack of production requirements of fertilizers. He pointed out that the agricultural engineers and technicians in the Cotton Office Directorate follow up the technical supervision of the cultivated areas and fields, and the directorate is working to provide guidance and advice to farmers, as the areas planted with cotton in Aleppo governorate amounted to 375 hectares.
SANA’s camera accompanied the engineers and technicians of the Cotton Office during their tour of the farmers’ fields in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, where farmer Saleh Khalaf Al-Faraj from the town of Tel Balat explained that he planted an area of 40 dunums with the cotton crop using the modern drip irrigation method for irrigating and adhered to the instructions of the agricultural engineers in the extension units related to the dates Agriculture, irrigation, fertilization and weeding, and that the degree of its growth is good, and this was confirmed by the farmer Sabri Muhammad Ali, who has maintained cotton cultivation for years, calling on the concerned authorities to provide facilities for the cultivation of the crop, including granting agricultural loans to farmers and providing production requirements.
In the town of Tel Arn in the countryside of Al-Safira area, the farmer Hussein Kallak said that he planted this year an area of 100 dunams with cotton, in addition to the commitment to fertilize and weed the land and cultivate it, and the crop’s condition is good so far, and that he is waiting for a good season, calling for overcoming the difficulties facing the cultivation of the crop, including the high prices of fuel, labor and fertilizer.
Eng. Jamal Sheikho, head of the Department of Agriculture in the Al-Safira region, spoke about the farmers’ interest in planting the cotton crop despite the lack of production requirements and the high cost of cultivation, pointing out that the cultivated areas amounted to 200 hectares of cotton and that the crop’s condition is good and its growth status is being monitored in cooperation with the stakeholders in the Cotton Office in terms of diseases and the method of Agriculture and irrigation.
Engineer Suhad Madrati from the Cotton Office Directorate said that she is carrying out a field tour of the farmers' fields planted with cotton in the Al-Safira area to see the reality of the crop, its stages of growth, the methods of cultivation and irrigation, and the extent of the farmers' commitment to them, pointing out that the plant's condition is good and heralds abundant production.
The Agricultural Monitor Shiraz Mahmoud from the General Organization for Seed Reproduction indicated that it is participating with the agricultural technicians in the Cotton Office in an agricultural course to see the method of cultivation and the services that are provided to the crop, noting the efforts made by the farmers to take care of their crop and the extent of their commitment to the guiding instructions.
Qusai Razzouk