Damascus-SANA
The General Organization for Seed Multiplication is gradually regaining its role after the damage it sustained as a result of terrorism by producing larger quantities of wheat seed in terms of quantity and quality. After its production in the current year reached 70 thousand tons of wheat seed, a plan was developed to produce 120 thousand tons for the next season.
The Corporation produces improved strains and seeds of various types of grain, including wheat, to secure them to farmers, thus increasing the efficiency and efficiency of the agricultural process and productivity and ensuring national food security, according to the Corporation's Director, Bassam Suleiman.
The wheat seed produced in the establishment, as Suleiman explains, is distinguished by its adaptability and suitability to local climatic conditions and its resistance to diseases, as it bears production characteristics and specifications that are not available in regular varieties, in addition to its competitive price.
Suleiman shows that the use of improved seeds is a cornerstone to ensure the success of any agricultural development policy, as it achieves an increase in production in the event that the appropriate factors are available, thus increasing the profit of farmers and quicker steps towards achieving food security.
Seeds are available locally from two reliable sources, according to Suleiman, namely, the Foundation for Seed Multiplication and the private sector, whose role is limited to importing seeds, while there are unofficial sources, such as farmers retaining part of their production for use as seed or buying seeds from distinguished farmers or illegal “smuggled seeds.”
Suleiman warns of the danger of buying smuggled seeds due to ignorance of their technical and production specifications and the extent to which they are adapted to climatic conditions and resistance to pathological factors.
There are many varieties of hard and soft wheat available in Syria, which are improved, sifted, and sterilized types produced by the National Program for Wheat Breeding in the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research dedicated to cultivation in several environments, including irrigated areas, in addition to the first and second settlement areas, as mentioned by the Director of the Crop Research Department at the Commission, Dr. Thamer The henna.
According to Al-Hanish, the productivity of the soft wheat variety “Bahouth 6, 4, 8 and Sham 10 and 4” and the hard wheat variety “Sham 7 and Bohouth 9” ranges from 6 to 8 tons per hectare, all of which are sown irrigated.
In the first settlement area, where the amount of rain exceeds 350 mm per year, the soft wheat varieties “Sham 4, 6, Bohouth 6, Duma 6, and hard” Bohouhat 7, 11, Sham 9 are grown, with productivity from 4.5 to 5 tons per hectare.
In the second settlement zone, with rainfall up to 250 mm per year, drought-tolerant varieties are grown, such as soft wheat of “Douma 2 and 4” and durum “Douma 1, 3 and Sham 3” and their productivity ranges from 2 to 2.5 tons per hectare.
There are also many local varieties in Syria that are still used on small scales among farmers due to their good quality characteristics and their tolerance to local environmental stresses such as frost, drought, salinity, soil poverty and pests, according to Dr. Youssef and Jahani from agricultural research.
Among these varieties are Hourani, Hamari, Al-Bayadi, Al-Baladi Al-Ahmar, Al-Shehani, Sunn Al-Jamal variety, and Al-Salmoni variety. It is characterized by being late in growth and medium, and rain-fed, and Al-Suwaydiyah variety. It is characterized by its resistance to pests, early and needs a high rate of rain.
Ghassoub Abboud and Mahran Mualla