Jungle farmers: Raising the purchase price of sugar beet is an encouraging step

Hama-Sana

The recent increase in the prices of the sugar beet crop received from farmers and producers by the government constituted an important and encouraging step for the resumption of its cultivation with stronger momentum in the Al-Ghab area in the western Hama countryside after its decline in the past years due to the high production costs and the lack of economic viability of the crop.

In order to get acquainted with the echoes of this increase among farmers and those concerned with this cultivation, especially in the Al-Ghab region, which was considered one of the most famous areas of its production, a number of farmers unanimously agreed in statements to SANA on the importance of the decision as a strong motive for restoring sugar beet cultivation and its usual place on the production map in Syria. general and the jungle area in particular.

Farmer Ayham Haidar expressed his satisfaction with the decision to raise the price of beetroot received from farmers from 175 pounds to 250 pounds, and demanded to secure his cultivation requirements, while farmer Saleh Ahmed expressed his readiness to continue cultivating beets, which he refrained from about 3 years ago because it was of no use at the time.

Farmer Mayas Saad, in turn, saw that the new price will ease the financial burdens incurred by beet farmers, which include the fees for preparing the land and plowing it, which exceed 35,000 pounds per acre, in addition to the increase in the prices of its cultivation requirements, calling on the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform and the concerned authorities to secure improved beet seeds to ensure the success of cultivation The crop that is expected to benefit farmers and breeders by providing bagasse, which is used as fodder for livestock herds.

The farmer, Ahmad Al-Khalil, saw that the new price was acceptable and that the return of the crop to the way it was in the past would have important economic consequences for the people of the western countryside of Hama.

Regarding the programs of the General Authority for the Management and Development of the Forest in the field of beet cultivation, Engineer Rafiq Zarouf, Director of Plant Resources in the Authority, explained that the Tal Salhab Sugar Company stopped operating and production four years ago due to the lack of sufficient quantities to operate the production cycle, indicating that the price of the crop was raised last March to reach 175 One pound per kilogram, but then the costs increased again, and the purpose of the recent decision to set the price at 250 pounds was to support the cultivation of the crop.

He added: The contracted area for beet cultivation within the Authority’s field amounts to 4,322 hectares and about 60 hectares in the field of Hama cultivation, noting the cooperation between the Authority and Salhab Sugar Company to encourage farmers to plant, pointing to the Authority’s role in accomplishing the agricultural regulation process through extension units, field departments and technical supervision of the crop. And securing its requirements in coordination between the Ministries of Industry and Agriculture.

Zarouf indicated that the General Organization for Seed Multiplication was assigned to secure new seeds for this year that are suitable for the region, as it contracted with several companies for this purpose, and it is currently being secured so that it will soon be put up in the warehouses of agricultural banks and sold to farmers.