Family planting project … an advanced step towards productive society

The family planting project, which was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform four  years ago in a number of provinces , is one of the pioneering projects in support of poor families through achieving self-sufficiency of summer and winter vegetables and selling surplus ones in the local market. For many rural families, the family planting project is  a new outlet  to face the current difficult circumstances including  high prices and  unjust economic measures imposed on Syria  in addition  to improving the standard of living of  poor and war-affected families  with the aim of planting the land and investing it in a way that restores life to the land and farmers.

In Damascus countryside SANA correspondent met a number of beneficiary families of the project which contributes to ensure their families’ needs of vegetables , improve their financial conditions , encourage them to grow their gardens continuously and provide them with a chance to know the appropriate steps of the cultivation process. 

With a smile full of hope, Fayza Alaiwi expressed her happiness at securing the supplies of her nine children and her elderly husband from the winter season production of her 500-meter garden, saying, “I want to expand my planted  land and increase its production more in a way that achieves self-sufficiency for my family and secures their needs.”

 “Agriculture needs a sense of responsibility because the plant interacts with the interest assigned to it” according to the beneficiary  Fatima Askar Al-Hassan..

She reviewed  her agricultural experience after  she had obtained production requirements including   drip irrigation network and seedlings of  summer and winter vegetables. 

On his part,  Shaker Daghmoush from the town of Al-Malihah called on  rural residents to invest every inch of land in agriculture  and develop it to be the optimal supporter of  home economy.  

In turn,  the General Director of the  Federation of Syrian Chambers of  Agriculture ( FSCA ) , Engineer Yahya Muhammad pointed to   the health benefits, which were represented by the production of fresh  vegetables free of hormones and chemicals as a result of the use of natural organic fertilizers  and  insecticides  of high-quality specifications .

He indicated  that the family planting project has reached   10 governorates  so far and 27 thousand benefiting families, including integrated rings of interconnected components from home gardens and manufacturing units in addition to raising poultry and domestic fish..

He stressed  that the drip irrigation network  helped to expand the invested land area and gave good returns to the project, which contributed to its sustainability.

In turn, the director of coordination of the family planting  project, Eng. Jamal Akash, underlined  that the project achieved the desired goal of increasing the income of the beneficiary families ,  securing their needs as well as encouraging  the farmer to return to his land, invest it  and develop agriculture in the countryside affected by the nine-year war.

With regard to the mechanisms of  the project process , Eng. Madeleine Al-Hadi, who supervises the beneficiaries in the village of Shebaa, indicated that for every 33 families, an engineer is appointed to supervise the work of farmers in order to provide the necessary directives and instructions regarding agriculture and irrigation..  

Rawaa Ghanam