Developing Agriculture in Eastern Region Key Priority
Posted by Zawya
SANA (Syria Arab News Agency)
31 January 2010

Damascus - Syrian government has been putting great efforts to find strategies for regional development given its considerable contribution to the production of strategic crops, mainly cotton, wheat, lentil and barley.

Despite the special attention paid to developing the Eastern region in Syria, the process of industrial development in the region is still in its early stages compared with the big industrial plans in Damascus and Aleppo.

Based on the regional development plan for the Eastern region prepared by the Municipal Administration Modernization program, agricultural development in the region requires big budget and better efficiency in using the limited water resources available by means of using drip irrigation and promoting cultivation of alternative crops like olive trees.

Lands irrigated from the Euphrates cover an area of 106.500 hectares. However, lands irrigated by wells cover only 40.000 hectares, and they do not usually pay off due to the high costs of agricultural production over the past two years.

Approximately, 80 % of the population of the eastern region work in agriculture. Agricultural survey of the region indicates that the percentage of families who own 10 hectares is less than 2 % of people working in agriculture. Families who own 1 to 1.5 hectares make 70 %. There are 28 % of the families who own no more than 0.5 hectare or none.

Some economists say that developing the agricultural situation in the eastern provinces is key priority for development in the region as it helps secure job opportunities and put an end to the migration of farmers from their villages. Those economists count on the fact that the Eastern region has vast arable plains of high fertility that are not yet utilized.

Over the past years, the Eastern region contributed by 56 to 58 % of the country's total wheat production yielding between 2.350 to 2.870 tons in 2003-2007. However, due to bad weather conditions, wheat production in the region fell to 1.3 thousand tons in 2008.

The percentage of cotton production in the region varies between 67 to 68 % of the country's total production, whereas yellow corn makes 62 to 72 % of Syria's total production, and it is basically located in the provinces of al-Raqqa and Deir Ezzor due to abundant water resources provided by the Euphrates.

By Haifa Said /Mazen Eyon

© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2010

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