Hama-Sana
A number of farmers in the countryside of Hama started a new experiment by using alternative solar energy for the purposes of irrigating crops, due to the economic savings it achieves and the stability of the irrigation process.
The farmers spoke to SANA Economic Bulletin about their new experience. Farmer Afif Al-Ahmad from Karnaz village in the northern Hama countryside says that he owns 140 dunums that he cultivates with wheat, cotton and sugar beet. And the installation of solar panels, pointing out the importance of his experience in providing water to irrigate his land for a period of 10 hours a day without any significant problems.
For his part, the engineer Ibrahim Al-Salakhbi, who is supervising the installation of solar energy for farmers’ lands, explained that this is a powered irrigation project by pumping groundwater to wells, which was working to achieve high economic feasibility by providing a lot of material burdens, sustaining the irrigation process and securing the crops’ need of water without interruption, indicating that The project works with a capacity of 40 horses for a 5-inch submersible and can irrigate hundreds of acres continuously.
Al-Salakhbi pointed out that the project’s mechanism of action depends on the installation of a group of solar panels that produce DC to convert it into alternating current through an inverter to provide the submersible with the required electrical energy, and the equipment can continue to operate for more than 25 years through simple procedures.
Osama Al-Hallaq, director of an agricultural bank in Kafr Zita, explained in a similar statement that the mechanism for granting the loan is easy, as the farmer applies for a loan to the bank, and after less than a month, approval is done and 70% of the value of the loan is transferred to the account of the company for the implementation of solar energy projects, indicating the importance of solar-based irrigation for For agricultural families as it increases their income and reduces the costs of agricultural production and increases it.
Al-Hallaq pointed out that the bank grants short, medium and long-term loans to buy an agricultural tractor or install solar energy to irrigate crops and others with all facilities for the required papers and speed to obtain the loan.
Suhad Hassan
SANA Economic Bulletin
