Cultivation of yellow watermelon in Sweida.. Increase in areas and productivity

As-Suwayda-Sana

The cultivation of yellow watermelon occupies the third place among the summer crops in As-Suwayda Governorate in terms of cultivated areas and the quantity of production. It also contributes to providing annual job opportunities for agricultural and harvest workers.

The areas planted with yellow watermelon, according to the assistant director of agriculture in Sweida, Engineer Alaa Shehayeb, increased from 370 dunums last season to 535 dunums during the current season, most of which are irrigated by relying on wells, especially in the western countryside of the governorate, pointing out that harvesting operations began for the current season and will continue until next month.

Shehayeb said in a statement to SANA reporter that the total production of yellow watermelon for the current season is 2,718 tons, which is relatively better than the last season, in which 1,888 tons were produced, noting that the Directorate encourages its cultivation within the plans established to secure local needs from it and achieve a source of income for many working families. In this area.

He said that cultivating it for the current season has witnessed a demand from farmers for irrigated crops due to the economic feasibility achieved from it, in addition to the availability of suitable conditions for its cultivation in the governorate in terms of the number of hours of sunshine that helps to harden the crust and the formation of sugars within the fruits.

He pointed out that the yellow watermelon needs to provide services before and during planting, such as plowing and fertilizing the soil and preparing irrigation networks for irrigated crops, in addition to implementing integrated pest control measures that interfere with the crop.

In the context, farmer Ayman Asad al-Halabi from the town of al-Mazraa in the western countryside of the governorate said that yellow watermelons are grown in warm soil during the months of February and March, to enter production after three months, and the cultivated area has reached 5 dunums in the current season, giving one dunam between 5 to 7 tons and the achieved productivity is better than The past years, pointing to the importance of overcoming the difficulties they face as farmers to continue production, the most important of which is finding a reduction in the prices of agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, and providing the fuel oil in the required quantities.

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SANA Economic Bulletin

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