Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Hama, SANA- The cultivation of sunflower started to return gradually to al-Ghab area in Hama province due to raising the price of crop and its short agricultural cycle in comparison with other crops.
Sunflower or al-Meyal its local name which the people of region call it ,where its cultivation was popular during the past years for suitability of al-Ghab lands to produce this crop because the farmers find it a good crop in both economic and food terms, particularly in light of the current conditions and raising the price of the imported vegetable oils, most of them are from abroad.
The farmers called on concerned authorities to offer possible support in order to securing requirements of its cultivation such as fuel, fertilizers, and the most significantly, marketing and selling the product .
Mohamad Turkey is a farmer from al- Asharenah town noted that the cultivation of sunflower was widespread in the region in 2008 and stopped in 2010 for the availability of surplus oil in the market at that time.
He added that the situation has changed with great rise in prices of the vegetables oils particularly sunflower for being imported, considering the cultivation of sunflower crop becomes currently necessary to secure raw material to produce oil of sunflower and covering the need of the local market and meet the needs of consumers.
While farmer Aref Ahmad described the cultivation of sunflower as comfortable and its cost is low and don’t need a lot of workforces to produce this crop.
Director of the Plant Wealth in the General Commission for Management and Development of al-Ghab, Eng. Wafek Zarouf indicated that the cultivation of sunflower started to return gradually to al-Ghab area, added that the total cultivated area with sunflower for the current season is surpassed by nearly 500 hectares.
Hybah /Mazen
