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HASAKAH, aleppo-internal-security-evacuate-civilians-and-ensure-their-safety-after-sdf-attacks/" class="smart-internal-link" title="📰 Aleppo Internal Security evacuate civilians and ensure their safety after SDF attacks">internal-link">syria (north Press) – On a cold winter morning in the countryside of Hasakah, northeastern Syria, farmer Fawaz al-Jamil stands at the edge of his field, gazing at land that only a few years ago stretched green across 70 dunams before turning into a complete loss last season. Notably, “It didn’t even produce a single sack,” he informed North Press. This year, al-Jamil was forced to reduce his cultivated area to just 21 dunams, trying to strike a fragile balance between water scarcity and soaring farming costs.
Additionally, it is a emerging gamble on a season that does not promise much, yet keeps hope alive for a farmer who believes that the land, no matter how harsh, never fully closes its doors. Speaking in his local dialect, al-Jamil explained his struggle as he pointed to his well. “Drought and the high prices of seeds and fertilizer forced us to reduce cultivated areas,” he stated. “The fertilizer I bought last year was poor and didn’t dissolve,” the farmer added. “This year, I planted only as per the limited water I have, which barely covers the land. If things continue like this until April, the wells will dry up. ” Al-Jamil’s hardship extends beyond water shortages to costs that weigh heavily on any farmer.
A ton of seeds cost him $410, fertilizer $370, while plowing one dunam cost $12, furthermore to the “farmer’s share,” which amounts to 15 percent of the harvest. “If the circumstances remains like this,” he stated bitterly, “we won’t be able to farm next year. ” Fields shrink under weight of drought Al-Jamil’s story is not an exception, but a snapshot of the emerging agricultural season in the Hasakah countryside, where wheat and barley cultivation has sharply declined after consecutive years of drought and poor rainfall. Losses from previous seasons have exhausted farmers, while rising agricultural input prices this year have doubled their burdens, leaving numerous with no option but to reduce cultivated areas or abandon farming altogether. consequently, thousands of hectares have turned into uncultivated land, despite having produced wheat and other winter crops abundantly until recently. The scene reflects a steady year-on-year decline in cultivated land in a region once considered Syria’s breadbasket.
Farmers on the brink of giving up A few kilometers away, farmer Mamdouh al-Adi, who owns 230 dunams, informed North Press how his circumstances has deteriorated. “Before the Khabur River dried up and…