Deir Ezzor – Obadah al-Sheikh
The winter season holds special significance for farmers in the Deir Ezzor countryside, eastern Syria, as they monitor their crops, primarily wheat and barley. However, obstacles weigh heavily on them, the most prominent being the rise in the prices of fertilizers, fuel, seeds, and irrigation costs.
The costs double with the scarcity of rainfall, which threatens to lead to weak production seasons or drives some farmers to refrain from planting to avoid losses.
High costs
This year, there has been an increase in agricultural costs, according to Mutab al-Rakiwi, a farmer from the town of Daranj, eastern Deir Ezzor. The cost of cultivating one dunam of wheat or barley is approximately $300 (about 3 million Syrian pounds).
He added to Enab Baladi that the price of a 50-kilogram fertilizer bag exceeds $30, and the cost of plowing one dunam is $10, while the price of a barrel of diesel (220 liters) is $120. Additional costs include irrigation and, in the future, harvest fees.
Considering the costs alongside low rainfall and the need for agricultural pesticides, the farmer perceives the crop as financially losing, incapable of covering the costs of its cultivation or his labor.
Farmer Harith al-Muhammad has abandoned cultivating his 200 dunam land in the town of al-Sour, north of Deir Ezzor, settling for planting only five dunams for subsistence.
He attributed his refusal to cultivate his land to the high prices of fertilizers and pesticides needed, rising fuel prices, inadequate labor supply, and high costs when available, as well as the fear of prices not being commensurate with farmers’ needs, as occurred in 2024.
Another farmer, Jamil al-Shihadeh from Deir Ezzor, stated to Enab Baladi that the financial losses incurred in the 2024 season led him to abandon farming on his 165-dunam land, noting that the production was considerably lower compared to previous years.
AANES: Weak demand
An official in the Agriculture Committee of the Deir Ezzor Civil Council in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (preferring not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media) told Enab Baladi that the Autonomous Administration had provided support to farmers.
He added that farmers’ participation was weak because the Autonomous Administration offered wheat and barley seeds, fertilizers, and fuel, but farmers did not register with agricultural cooperatives.
The Agriculture and Irrigation Authority in the Autonomous Administration set the buying price for wheat from farmers for the 2023-2024 agricultural season at 31 cents per kilogram, while it was set at 43 cents for the same quantity in 2023, which farmers considered “oppressive and unjust” to their livelihoods.
A sector in need of support
Agriculture is one of the primary professions for most residents of the Deir Ezzor countryside, serving as their top source of income. Farmers hope for a revival of the agricultural sector through support at suitable prices and the reclamation of lands that have become unsuitable for cultivation due to water seepage and the formation of puddles on the soil surface.
The agricultural sector in Deir Ezzor faces numerous problems, such as heat waves in the summer and frost in the winter. The 2024 wheat season saw a spread of the Sunn pest, which damaged crops in some areas.
Agriculture in northeastern Syria, particularly in Deir Ezzor, faces several difficulties, including a lack of support and rising fuel prices. Among the most significant problems faced by farmers is the phenomenon of soil salinity in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
Farmers attributed this to the slow progress in cleaning and rehabilitating excess water drainage systems, as their accumulation for prolonged periods causes soil salinity.
According to statistics conducted by the Irrigation Committee of the Autonomous Administration in the area, between 2300 and 2500 hectares have suffered from salinization, rendering their soil unsuitable for cultivation.