Hummus-Sana
Apple harvest operations have started for the current season in Homs Governorate, and preliminary estimates of production according to the Agriculture Directorate reach about 125 tons, while the marketing process continues through the Syrian trade according to the set plan.
Imad Nadour, director of the Syrian Trade Corporation branch in Homs, stated in a statement to the SANA Economic Bulletin that the quantities received from farmers to date amounted to 300 tons that were marketed from various regions in which the apple crop is located, pointing out that the receipt plan includes receiving the full quantities of the types that can be stored according to The approved prices ranged between 150 and 650 liras per kilo, according to the type and classification.
Nadour emphasized that a new mechanism followed by the Corporation's branch in Homs to receive the crop from the farmers who did not pick apples in their fields until now depends on ensuring the whole field from the farmer within a certain price and then sorting the material later, in a way that benefits the farmer in terms of good price and marketing the whole crop, indicating that The Foundation purchases the first and second types of the injury-free crop, in addition to 5 percent of the third type.
For his part, Engineer Nazih Al-Rifai, Director of Homs Agriculture, said in a similar statement that the total number of apple trees amounts to about 4.4 million trees, of which 3.7 million are fruitful trees, the majority of which are planted in height, indicating that production is generally good and varies from one region to another, and the initial estimates of production reach about 125 thousand tons of apples. .
Farmer Fuad Khoury from the village of Kfram in the western countryside of Homs indicated that he delivered the apple crop of the white type, estimated at 60 tons, to the Syrian trade at a price of 550 Syrian pounds for the first type and 450 for the second type, calling for the need to raise the purchase price by the Syrian trade, as it is sold in the cardamom market at higher prices. In addition to drawing all quantities of various kinds due to the difficulties of agricultural work and its high costs.
For his part, Mowafak Zakaria, Head of the Marketing Office of the Homs Farmers Union, pointed out that the Syrian trade’s role in marketing apples has declined this year due to the low prices it set for marketing, which did not match the increase in production costs in addition to the price difference with the private sector and traders, and this reduces the profit margin a lot for the farmer. That the cultivation of apples has high production costs, especially pesticides and fertilizers, and within these prices, it is not expected that the Syrian trade will be delivered this year to more than 500 tons as a maximum, while the governorate's production exceeds 100 thousand tons at least.
Apple cultivation is concentrated in the Homs governorate in three main areas, which are Dahr Al Qusayr in the western countryside of Homs, and some villages in the Tal Kalakh and Al Qusayr regions in the western and southern countryside of Homs.
Saba Kharibak
SANA Economic Bulletin