Latakia-SANA
Various types of tropical fruits have recently spread remarkably on the Syrian coast, and farmers have adopted them as they are of high economic feasibility, as their fruits are sold at high prices.
In an interview with SANA’s reporter, the farmer, Suhail Munif Khaduj from the village of Vidio, said that five years ago he planted a variety of trees of tropical fruits such as cream, Indian and coniferous cream, Egyptian mango, paradise apple, Chinese grape, chocolate tree, kiwi, dwarf banana and pink cactus, indicating that some of them need a warm climate and some of their fruits need fermentation But all of them need organic fertilizer permanently.
He pointed out that the pests to which they are exposed are only some spiders, and excessive watering harms them, and all of them need moisture, heat and good irrigation water, and there are species that need shade, and there are permanent fruits like cream, while the rest of the species have one season.
The farmer, Iyad Ghadban, from the village of Vedio, said: “He started planting varieties of Flora, Sapota and chocolate and succeeded in that,” pointing out that they require special care and attention, and that their costs are high, their prices are very expensive, and they give good production.
Dr. Ali Al-Khatib from the Scientific Agricultural Research Center in Lattakia indicated that they do not currently have studies and research on the cultivation of tropical fruits in Lattakia, indicating that its cost is high, as the price of one seedling may reach hundreds of thousands of pounds and the price of the fruit to 25 thousand pounds, with no guarantee of successful cultivation.
Eng. Akram Rouhiya, head of the Plant Production Department at the Directorate of Agriculture, said that the Syrian coast’s climate is not suitable for the cultivation of tropical fruits, and that they entered Syria “by illegal and ill-considered ways,” which may cause the spread of agricultural pests such as Xylella bacteria that may spread infection in local trees.
Rouhiya stressed that in order to know the feasibility of planting it, there is a need to study the climatic cycle over a period of 36 years to show what is the lowest and highest temperature that the plant can tolerate and to know the pests to which it is exposed and the fertilizer needs to it throughout the year, pointing out that some have succeeded in cultivating it, but its fruits may need fermentation, which causes it not to grow. Naturally and deprives of its basic natural benefits and nutrients.
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