Low Rainfall Reflects Negatively on Dams Storage

DAMASCUS, (ST) –The Committee of Agriculture and Irrigation at the Parliament recently met the Ministers of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Ahmed Qadri and the Minister of Water Resources Eng. Bassam Hanna. During the meeting, they discussed the reality of agriculture and ways to secure supplies of agricultural production, help farmers in the implementation of their agricultural plans and delivery of irrigation water to all the land under the low amounts of rainfall this year.

The members of the committee stressed the need for coordination between the Ministries of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Water Resources and Electricity to ensure the access of irrigation water to all cultivated land and compensation for farmers who have been unable to cultivate their land, provide water for irrigation, maintenance of dams and irrigation canals.

The conferees stressed the need to prepare the necessary studies for the establishment of a factory for the production of natural juice in the Syrian coast, encourage cultivation of medicinal plants, work on the development of varieties of new strains of crops and fruit trees adapted environmentally to cover local market needs and economically feasible.

For his part, the Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform underlined that the rate of implementation of the agricultural plan for the season 2013-2014 is “good and reassuring.” He added that the rate of implementation of the cultivation plan of crops and winter vegetables in 2013 amounted to about 81 percent, expecting the production of 600.000 tons of potatoes this year “the need to cover the local market.”

“The ministry is currently working on the preparation of agricultural productivity plan for the season 2014-2015 through communication with the departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, pointing out. That the plan will be discussed by the agricultural committees in the governorates in coordination with the Ministry of Water Resources,” the minister said.

He indicated that the ministry will work to increase the area of winter crops at the expense of summer crops, according to the available water and reduce the space of cotton, sugar beet, according to energy manufacturing.

For his part, the Minister of Water Resources pointed out to the reality of water in Syria in light of the low amounts of rainfall that reflected negatively on the storage of strategic dams. The ministry, he added, is currently working in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform and the General Federation of Peasants to manage agricultural process within the possibilities of available water “in one of the driest seasons, which rarely occurs in Syria.

“The total amount of water stored in dams after the end of the rainfall season for the current year stood at 880 million cubic meters out of 2 billion and 880 million cubic meters that constitute the total storage of these dams, equivalent to about 54 percent of the total storage of the last year,” he explained.

The Minister affirmed that the water reality requires participatory with the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform for water management and modifying the agricultural productivity plan in conformity with the available quantities of water.

Sharif el -Khatib