Rural Damascus-SANA
The farmers of Beit Saber in the Jabal al-Sheikh area continue to water and weed their agricultural crops spread over an area of 1,087 hectares, which vary between wheat, potatoes, garlic, anise, cumin, chickpeas, onions, lettuce, carrots, peas and beans, which launched EGP operations on May 1, amid expectations of lower production than last year as a result of the frost that hit Catch the crop during the month of March.
The farmers confirmed in statements to SANA reporter that the most important crop for them at the moment is wheat, as the cultivated area exceeded the plan by 700 dunams, followed by potatoes, whose cultivated area reached 530 dunams.
During his follow-up to the bean harvest, farmer Yasser Arafat mentioned that most of the agricultural areas in the town are planted with various types of crops, pointing out that the cultivated area has 600 dunams, 90 percent of which is planted with wheat and the rest with potatoes, garlic, beans and peas.
Arafat expected that the productivity of crops would be good during this season, especially wheat, but he said: “The frost that came during the month of March had a negative impact on the productivity of the bean crop in Beit Saber,” noting that the production of one acre of wheat ranges between one ton and 100 kilos, while it reaches The production of one acre of green beans to a ton if the season is good, but he considered that most crops, except for wheat, are no longer feasible for the farmer due to the lack of diesel, pesticides and fertilizers and their high prices, but the farmer is forced to go through the correct agricultural cycle.
The crops of Beit Saber are distinguished by smart taste and quality because they are sprayed from clean well water and fertilized with organic fertilizers, according to farmer Issam Asawiya, who said that “the wheat crop and other crops are promising this season, except for beans, whose productivity is less than expected,” noting that farmers in the town tended to expand in Cultivation of fruit trees such as apricots, peaches, pears, olives, and others, as they give greater added value to the farmer over other crops.
The farmer, Muhammad Hamza Hasweya, confirmed that the farmers of Beit Saber are keen to invest their entire lands and cultivate them with various crops because the land is the basis of their livelihood, considering that wheat prices have become feasible, so the farmer turned to the expansion of his cultivation, pointing to the importance of providing support to the farms and providing agricultural requirements such as diesel, fertilizers and others.
The head of the agricultural association in Beit Saber Shehadeh Suwaidan confirmed that Beit Saber is an agricultural country with distinction. The total agricultural area invested in it is 1,087 hectares, and there are 126 hectares for investment. Wheat is the main crop in the town. The farmers were able to cultivate 3,700 dunams, exceeding the plan of 3,000 dunams, after raising its prices before. The state, while the cultivated area of irrigated barley amounted to 130 dunums, 65 dunums of rainfed and 530 dunums of potatoes was less than the planned amount of 1010 dunums due to the high cost of seeds and the lack of fuel oil, while the area planted with green beans reached 600 dunams, peas reached 563 dunams and garlic was 80 dunams.
Suwaidan stated that the Agricultural Society provided some quantities of subsidized fertilizers to farmers, and the Ministry of Agriculture also provided the necessary medicines to combat the Sunn pest and the rust disease that affects wheat, but the infection was few in Beit Saber, calling for providing greater quantities of diesel and fertilizers to farmers.
In this context, the Director of Agriculture in the Governorate of Damascus Countryside, Engineer Irfan Ziadeh, explained that after following the plan for planting winter vegetables in the governorate of green peas, green beans, cabbage, flower, chard, green onions, lettuce, spinach, radish, carrots, green garlic, turnip, beet and others for the season 2021-2022, it was found that the implementation rate reached 91 percent, and the total cultivated area reached more than 5371 hectares out of the total planned area of 5874 hectares, amid estimates of production 85,222 tons, of which about 83,002 tons have been produced so far.
Ziada pointed out that the cultivation of beans and peas is concentrated in Qatana, Ghouta, Al Kiswa, Daraya, Yabroud, Douma and Harran Al-Awamid. 304 hectares.
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