About 17 thousand tons, the estimated production of autumn potatoes in Homs

Homs-Sana

Potato growers in various regions of Homs continue to harvest their harvest in the fall season, amid expectations of a production of about 17 thousand tons.

A number of farmers spoke to SANA Economic Bulletin about the reality of work and its difficulties, including farmer Zakaria Zakaria from the village of Al-Naqira in the southern countryside of Homs, who indicated that the area planted with potatoes was significantly less than last season due to the high costs of agricultural production of fuels, fertilizers and pesticides, which are often purchased from Free market at high prices in addition to long-term power outages, calling on the concerned authorities to work on providing fuel to maintain the production capacity of potato orchards.

A number of other farmers, including Imad Ayoub, demanded a fair distribution of fuel and the provision of all the farmers’ needs for agricultural production requirements, such as fertilizers, according to the areas actually planted, noting that farmers reduced the areas planted with potatoes, and this led to a decline in production and a decrease in the quantities supplied, which was reflected in an unprecedented rise in their prices in the markets.

For his part, Engineer Zaher Tibani, Head of the Vegetables Division in the Homs Agriculture Directorate, confirmed that the area planted with the potato crop for the current season is 1149 hectares out of the total plan of 1415 hectares, and its cultivation is concentrated in the villages of the Qusair countryside, south of Homs, on an area of ​​700 hectares, followed by the eastern center area with an area of ​​305 hectares, then villages. Rastan is 102 hectares and the rest is in the villages of the western center and the Muharram area.

In turn, Engineer Mowaffaq Zakaria, head of the Marketing Office at the Farmers Union branch in Homs, attributed the increase in potato prices in the local market to the decrease in the quantities produced as a result of the decrease in the cultivated areas due to the high production costs of fuel, fertilizers and seeds compared to previous years, stressing that the distribution of fuels to farmers is carried out according to spatial committees in Each region is made up of delegates from several sides and is responsible for distributing diesel to the farmers.

 Abdul Hamid Junaidy

SANA Economic Bulletin