Hama-Sana
A number of apple growers in the areas of Beshawi, Al-Tamarqiah, Bashnin, Tin Al-Sabil and Barshin in the western countryside of Hama demanded that the Syrian Trade Corporation intervene positively in the marketing process by receiving the crop at an early date and setting a price commensurate with production costs.
The farmers, including Haitham Al-Ali, a farmer from the village of Beshawi, spoke to the SANA reporter about the high costs that the apple tree needs to ensure a good harvest and a rewarding return, most notably the increase in the prices of production requirements such as pesticides, fertilizers, diesel and labor wages.
The farmer, Muhammad Suleiman, from the village of Al-Tamarqiah, pointed out that the production of the current season is better than the previous seasons as a result of the prevailing climatic conditions in terms of rainfall and temperatures, stressing the need to tighten control over agricultural medicines and pesticides, reduce their prices and provide them in licensed agricultural centers.
For his part, the Director of Hama Agriculture, Engineer Ashraf Bakir, explained that the apple tree is one of the important crops in the mountainous areas and gives a good return and income to the farms and most of the apple varieties produced in the governorate “Golden Starken”, noting that the estimates of the production of the apple crop for the current season exceed 14,000 in all regions of the governorate With a total area of about 28,448 dunums, 25414 dunums are in rain-fed agriculture and the rest is irrigated.
He added: We follow up apple growers to ensure a bountiful harvest by providing the necessary and spatial instructions for the tree that needs spraying pesticides and pest control annually in addition to the pruning process and other services, pointing out that the apple tree is grown irrigated and rainfed in cold mountainous areas, and the maturity date varies according to the variety from June until October, pointing out that the seedlings are produced in a specialized center and sold to farmers at nominal prices.
The total number of apple trees planted in Hama Governorate exceeds one million trees.
Suhad Hassan
SANA Economic Bulletin
Follow Sana's news on Telegram https://t.me/SyrianArabNewsAgency