Damascus-SANA
The Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform held a specialized scientific dialogue workshop under the title “The reality of wheat cultivation and production for the year 2021-2022 and the impact of climate changes on it and the proposed strategies for its development,” in the Sahara Complex in Damascus countryside.
The Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Engineer Muhammad Hassan Qatana, stated in a speech during the opening of the workshop that Syria produces more than 80 agricultural species, the most important of which is wheat, reviewing the reality of its production since 2008 until the current season.
Qatna pointed out that the agricultural season was subjected to exceptional circumstances this year as a result of climatic changes, such as the delay in rainfall, the low rate of rain, the occurrence of frost waves, and the lack of filling of dams in the interior regions, stressing the need to find alternatives to overcome that.
Qatana pointed out that professional recommendations are being developed to amend the map of varieties and to amend the scheduled program for managing the wheat crop in order to improve production and productivity and return to achieving national food security from it, pointing out that the trend is now towards managing water resources and increasing irrigated areas to increase wheat production.
The Minister of Water Resources, Dr. Tammam Raad, explained that during the workshop, the results of the scientific research carried out by the General Authority for Scientific Agricultural Research will be presented, including studying the impact of climatic changes on the wheat crop in all research centers, and diagnosing and identifying the reasons that led to the decline in the wheat crop and the decline in its productivity in various governorates, pointing out Because of the importance of research in developing visions and programs to develop the cultivation of this crop in the coming years.
Director of the National Center for Agricultural Policies, Engineer Raed Hamza, pointed out that the Ministry of Agriculture has studied the reality of the wheat crop in order to develop a new vision for producing a high rate of wheat that it seeks to achieve in the coming years.
In turn, the head of the Aleppo Research Center, Dr. Abdullah Al-Yousef, gave a presentation on research in the northern and eastern regions and the results of applied research on the reality of wheat cultivation and productivity, the impact of climatic changes on it, and the most important reasons for the decline in productivity, rain-fed areas and productivity of the irrigated crop.
Director of the Fund for Mitigating the Effects of Drought and Natural Disasters, Engineer Muhammad Abu Hammoud, indicated that the Fund is working to deal with the disaster by reading climatic data and issuing maps and brochures to predict them. Within the possibilities available.
In turn, the Director General of the Syrian Grain Corporation, Eng. Abdul Latif Al-Amin, explained that the state is striving to increase the wheat crop by securing all production requirements for farmers to obtain an abundant season.
The workshop was attended by the assistant ministers of agriculture and water resources, the head of the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee in the People’s Assembly and a number of its members, the head of the General Union of Peasants and the directors of agriculture in the governorates, a number of directors in the ministry, the head of the Syrian Federation of Chambers of Agriculture, the Syndicate of Agricultural Engineers and the Director General of the Arab Center for Studies of Dry Areas and Arid Lands “ACSAD” And a number of its researchers, the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “FAO” and the representative of “ICARDA” in Syria.
Mehran Mualla
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