Humanitarian crisis | Farmers in Deir Ezzor countryside suffer from high costs of reforestation and irrigation of their dry orchards

Farmers in Al-Susah, Al-Baghouz, Al-Safafenah, Al-Marashidah and Al-Arqoup towns have difficulty irrigating their orchards, pomegranate orchards in particular, their areas are famous for, as farming is a major source of income to the people of Deir Ezzor countryside, especially with the region’s land being fertile and close to the Euphrates river.

 

The farmers are still working on rehabilitate their orchards and planting new trees instead of those have got dried for not being irrigated for months, after the area’s people have fled from the military operations between SDF and the International Coalition on one hand, and ISIS on the other nearly two years and half ago.

 

In His testimony to SOHR, a farmer says “I have eight dunams of farmlands that had been planted with pomegranate, almond and citrus. When I returned to my land, after I had been displaced, I found out that all trees have been completely dry. I lost my source of income. I uprooted all trees in my orchards and planted new trees in light of the astronomically inflated prices. Reforestation of every dunam costs approximately four million Syrian liras in the wake of the high prices of planting equipment. Besides, I have to wait for years until the new trees bear fruit. Also, I have to fix a new irrigation system connected to the nearby river, after the earlier equipment has been stolen.”

 

The region’s residents are struggling with the high cost of rehabilitation of farmlands and the equipment needed for irrigation in light of the lack of peasant associations which have ceased functioning for unknown reasons.