Pistachio Harvest Festival kicks off in Aleppo

Aleppo (ST) – The activities of the Pistachio Harvest Festival, organized by the Syrian Trust for Development and the Aleppo City Council, kicked off today in cooperation with the Directorate of Culture and the Union of Fine Artists.

The first day’s activities included the participation of farmers in the rituals of picking pistachios from their fields in the village of Abtin in the southern countryside of Aleppo and planting a number of pistachio seedlings.

Hadeel Saleh from the Syria Trust for Development spoke to a SANA reporter about the Trust’s efforts in partnership with the Farmers’ Union to support agriculture in general, noting that pistachio cultivation in the village of Abtin will be supported by establishing a production cooperative and providing it with a production line for cracking, peeling and roasting pistachios.

The head of the Public Relations Committee of the Aleppo City Council, Engineer Basil Mawlawi, explained that the event is held to emphasize the importance of pistachio cultivation, noting that the city council participates in this event through its work in the service sector and contributing to preserving heritage.

Regarding the contribution of the branch of the Union of Fine Artists to the festival, the branch’s secretary, Ibrahim Daoud stressed that the union’s participation aims to convey the idea of the artist’s feeling and love for the land and to express the beautiful nature of Aleppo countryside.

The head of the Pistachio Cooperative Society in the village of Abtin Ahmed Qaddour indicated the importance of cooperation in providing support to farmers, and facilitating the peeling, cracking and roasting processes through the machines that the society will be provided with. He noted that the village includes some 2000 pistachio trees and this crop has been cultivated by the farmers in this village for more than 60 years.

Najla Khoury