The Agriculture and Irrigation Authority in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) announced that it intends to compensate farmers affected by fires in its controlled areas, along with measures in the agricultural sector to support farmers.

On Monday, August 26, the authority announced that it would compensate farmers with free wheat seeds based on agricultural licenses for the 2024-2025 season.

This announcement came within the recommendations issued in the annual meeting of AANES’ Agriculture and Irrigation Authority, which was held yesterday in the Sardam hall in the city of al-Hasakah.

AANES, through its official website, stated that it reviewed the works of the Agriculture and Irrigation Authority during the past year and concluded the meeting with several outcomes, the most prominent of which was determining the sale of wheat seeds through the Seed Multiplication Foundation for the 2024-2025 agricultural season at an amount of $225 per ton.

In addition, AANES will purchase the cotton crop from farmers for the current agricultural season, based on a rate to be determined later.

For her part, the co-chair of the Cotton Foundation in the Autonomous Administration, Walaa al-Mohammed, said that AANES would buy the entire cotton crop from the farmers, according to the North Press Agency website.

The meeting also resulted in setting the price of organic compost at $140 per ton, with distribution and sale beginning with the start of agricultural organization, noting that it is currently sold for $200, according to the official website of AANES.

The attendees also decided to establish a weather station center consisting of Agricultural Research, Seed Multiplication, Joud Company, and Rojava University, in addition to supporting all agricultural crops listed in the agricultural plan with fuel, according to a plan announced every season.

The Agriculture Authority in the Autonomous Administration also said that it decided to introduce four new types of wheat, three of which are soft and one hard, and they will be included in the agricultural plan for the 2024-2025 season.

The meeting determined the beginning of the agricultural licensing for the next season at the beginning of next September, and the beginning of agricultural organization for the same season on the 15th of the same month, as well as the start of seed distribution through the Seed Multiplication Foundation on September 20.

AANES’ decisions came after the wheat pricing it set in its controlled areas caused unrest, as protest sit-ins spread in multiple areas demanding a reversal of the set price of 31 US cents per kilogram, at a time when AANES forced farmers to sell at this price.

The area, where the wheat crop is considered strategic, is connected by river and land borders with areas under the control of the Syrian regime, making smuggling crops to the latter a way to avoid losses, according to experts in a previous interview with Enab Baladi.

On the other hand, farmers in Autonomous Administration areas have long complained about the lack of support for the cotton crop, including fuel, fertilizers, and pesticides.