Rural Damascus - SANA
The operations of combating insect pests that affected the fields of the Damascene Rose in the village of Al-Marah in the countryside of Damascus were launched today, after the success of the participation of several parties in finding the appropriate insecticide to treat the pests that led to the halving of the yield of the shrubs and the death of many of them.
The Damask Rose and its importance called for the participation of the Syrian Trust for Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform and the General Union of Peasants in order to search for a cure for the pests that afflicted it, which are the nucleus capnods, the long-horned stem borer and the agrillus, according to what a number of farmers explained to the delegate of Sana during her visit to the fields of the rose.
Farmer Bassam Al-Bitar mentioned that the pests led to a decrease in yield by half, the death of many shrubs, and affected families who consider the rose an essential source of their livelihood, while farmer Abdo Hafez explained that after coordination with the Secretariat and the relevant authorities, today the pest control began with scientifically studied methods.
According to farmer Muhammad Hafez, the pests were discovered after the bushes became fruitful, which caused the death of most of them, and he called for urgent treatment after implementing several field days to search for them and know their stages.
The Syrian Trust for Development has intensified its efforts with the relevant authorities to save the Damascene rose, according to Reem Al-Ibrahim, the Shami Rose project supervisor in the Municipality, noting that the Secretariat searched for ways to combat insect infestations and after finding the type of pesticide and conducting experiments on its effectiveness, treatment was started in a documented and systematic manner within field days. .
The discovery of pests and their phases required many field visits to the fields of the rose, according to the assistant director of prevention at the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Engineer Hazem Al-Zaila, who attributed the emergence of pests to the inability of the farmer to follow his lands and apply agricultural operations continuously, such as irrigation and pruning during the years of war, as well as the result of drought and the lack of shrubs. On the necessary complementary irrigation.
Coordination with the General Peasant Union made it possible to purchase part of the pesticide to combat the pest, according to Ziad Khalil Khaled, Vice President of the Peasants' Union in Damascus and its countryside, who emphasized daily follow-up with farmers to start the first phase of treatment.
The Director of Agriculture in Damascus Countryside, Eng. Irfan Ziadeh, pointed to the establishment of a database to know the area of fields affected by the pest and the number of affected farmers to secure sufficient quantities of the pesticide to combat insect infestations within practical bases.
Ziadeh referred to the work on watering the fields of the rose, with “agricultural and mechanical” engineers sorting out the village to communicate with the Levantine Rose Association and farmers to provide any technical advice in this regard.
It is noteworthy that the total area currently cultivated in the Damascene rose is 2750 dunums, and there are unexploited areas of up to about 400 hectares that can be cultivated.
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