Latakia-SANA
The Damascene rose is no longer just a type of agriculture that has its roots in the lands of the village of Al-Mahalba Castle in the countryside of Qardaha, but has become a friend of the people who are waiting for the early hours of the morning to take care of it.
While the farmer, Nadim Hilal, places the rose petals that have not yet opened in the harvest basket to preserve its nectar and oil, he looks forward with satisfaction to the spread of the cultivation of this rose in his village, with which the signs of the 2020 fires that took with them the livelihood of the people of olives, fruit trees and others.
Hilal, who has been planting roses of all kinds for 40 years, and the Levant for ten years, and cares about them as if they were members of his family, says that the fires did not leave us anything to live from, including livestock, bees, trees and bounties. To compensate for the sources of income for the farmers in his village, the environment is suitable.. the soil is good and the plant gives to everyone who loves it.
In his field surrounding his house and overlooking it from a wide balcony that accommodates all rose lovers, you will find different types of roses that share the land with various fruit trees, and in the middle are seedlings of the Damascene rose and others that he chose to be on the outskirts of the field that he planted years ago.
The man in his sixties realizes that the production of new plants gives little in its first season, but he is sure of its double and abundant production in the coming years.. He calls on all the people of his village to plant and invest in them as a source of abundant income.
Helalah, a farmer from one hundred farmers in his village, received a hundred free seedlings, an agricultural basket, seeds and drip irrigation networks as a kind of support for the people in the village to diversify their sources of income, provided by the Syrian Trust for Development in cooperation with its partners in the Directorate of Agriculture, the Union of Peasants and the Arab Center for Studies of Arid Zones and Arid Lands (ACSD).
Safaa Bodour, director of my project program in the Syrian Trust for Development in Latakia, says that large areas of agricultural land have been damaged in Al-Mahalba Castle, like other villages in the countryside of the governorate. The Damascene Rose, given that all conditions are suitable for its cultivation.
The implementation of the idea began, according to Bodour, with the establishment of the productive cooperative association for the rose, which included 100 farmers, to be followed by other practical steps in providing free seedlings, agricultural baskets, fertilizers and other needs.. And the continuous coordination between experts and farmers from the beginning of the seedling planting season to picking, pruning and training.
The project did not stop at this point, as Bodour says.. We will work on expanding the cultivated areas, establishing a nursery for it, increasing production to enter new stages of it, and training farmers to distill the rose to be more profitable.. Describing this as a dream come true with great cooperation from the people.. to be this The rose is a source of income and a substitute for them until the olive trees and other trees damaged by the fires return to production.
In this cultivation, the family shares the interest in seedlings, harvesting, oil production, rose water, jams and flowers.. Women from the village express their happiness while they work on the land. Laila Rajab says: “With the first moments of the sun we are in the field.. It is true that production this year is little, but working with roses is fun. .. It does not require much effort, and with the support provided by the Syrian Trust for Development, we are confident that we will produce more later.
Laila Rajab and her neighbor, Nagham Saleh, made some of her flowers harvest this year, and some of her rose water.. They follow up with the Syrian Trust for Development, ICSAD experts, and the Agricultural Association to get experiences for the entire production cycle.
Two years after the fires that broke out in Al-Mahalaba Castle, the people are striving to restore life to their land, a dream that comes true with the re-cultivation of the damaged land and the attention of the Syrian Trust for Development with its partners on the ground in this project, and whoever visits this village comes out with a bouquet of roses bearing all the colors of love and hope.
Bassam Ibrahim
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