Damascus-Sana countryside
Farmers in the town of Drosha in Damascus countryside managed to overcome all the difficulties and promote their crops, which varied between summer and winter vegetables, in addition to wheat, anise and garlic.
The people of Drosha assured the delegate of Sana, who visited their fields, that they depend for their livelihood on agriculture, but their lack of sufficient quantities of diesel and the high prices of seeds, urea fertilizer and labor wages make the farmer a loser because he markets his products at low prices.
Farmer Mohamed Matar stressed that the agricultural reality in Drosha is seeing improvement as a result of farmers not leaving their lands and cultivating them with various types of crops, but he pointed out the need to search for ways to provide the necessary support to the farmers in order to be able to continue to work.
For his part, Tariq Tarabay, an agricultural engineer, said that Drosha includes large agricultural areas, 20 percent of which are cultivated with wheat and 3 percent anise, because they are important crops that give a good yield to the farmer, but he pointed out that the lack of adequate allocations of diesel oils to the farms affected some crops in addition to the lack of fertilizers and pesticides. Stressing that 80 percent of the land in Drosha is cultivated.
Some farmers rent land to improve their standard of living, such as Aisha Al-Saqqa, who confirmed that she works with her family for 12 hours, but the farmer needs more support and assistance to market his products at reasonable prices, while Hawasha Al-Ali, who works in raising laying hens, indicated that her work is limited to following up on chickens and care With him so that he can lay his eggs and he is in good health, explaining that any work requires fatigue and effort to reach the desired result.
The director of the Damascus countryside engineer, Irfan Ziyada, stressed that the needs of farmers of diesel in the governorate of Damascus countryside amount to about 4 million liters, of which 360 thousand liters for the poultry sector, but he pointed out that the Directorate did not receive only 150 thousand liters during the past year as a result of the lack of this article and the allocation Large quantities of them for heating, but he said that the seeds are available, and according to the plan, the governorate needs from wheat seed to 2711 tons, out of which 60 percent have been implemented, and all of them were planted.
Ziada indicated that urea fertilizer is distributed by the agricultural bank for farmers, according to what is available. This is why the farmer faces a shortage of this substance, indicating that there is a daily follow-up to the reality of farmers and their work. The Directorate of Agriculture in cooperation with the relevant authorities seeks to increase their allocations of diesel, fertilizers, and others.
Ambassador of Ismail