Hummus-Sana
Apple farmers in the Dahr al-Qusayr region in the western countryside of Homs began preparing for the next agricultural season by caring for the trees through pruning and spraying of pesticides, amid demands to secure production requirements and tighten control over agricultural pharmacies.
Farmer Sadiq Dergham from Rabah village told SANA reporter that farmers are currently carrying out the pruning process, or what is known locally as the "scavenging" process, which aims to take care of the tree in terms of removing diseased branches and some branches with the aim of regenerating the tree and raising it, and then comes the plowing process with the aim of removing weeds.
Farmer Ghayath Qazma pointed out that trees need to be sprayed with some pesticides to protect them during this period, such as winter oil and copper compounds, but most farmers this year were unable to spray because of the high prices of pesticides in addition to the ineffectiveness of many types of them due to the lack of control over agricultural pharmacies, some of which sell commercial or Adulterated, adversely affects the tree's production and vitality.
Qzma demanded that farmers be provided with pesticides through extension units to ensure their quality, or to tighten control over agricultural pharmacies and pesticide producers.
Shaher Khader, from the village of Fahl, owner of a pruning workshop working in most villages in the Dahr El Quseir region, stressed the importance of pruning trees during this period to get a good harvest and the need to spray the required pesticides and add fertilizers at this time.
For his part, Muhammad Hammoud, Director of the Agricultural Cooperative Bank in Shein in the western countryside of Homs, indicated that the process of financing fertilizers will start immediately in parallel with the continuation of financing wheat, which has priority in the financing process.
According to the statistics of the Homs Agriculture Directorate, apple cultivation is concentrated in the western countryside of Homs, especially in the areas of Dahr al-Qusayr and the countryside of Tal Kalakh, and it is an essential crop for farmers, as the number of apple trees in the governorate has reached 4.4 million trees, of which 3.7 million are fruitful trees, most of them are Baal, with a production of 12 thousand tons.
Ahmed Nassar
