Damascus-SANA

The Prime Minister, Eng. Hussein Arnous, stressed that the development of the agricultural sector, preserving it and supporting it with all the requirements of the production process is one of the priorities of government work, and at the forefront of the concerns of government institutions concerned with agriculture, which continue to provide the available capabilities for this important and vital sector, pointing to the continuation of work to increase the cultivated area through the reclamation of more land.

During his speech today before the General Council of the General Union of Farmers, Eng. Arnous conveyed the love of President Bashar al-Assad to farmers throughout the country, who cultivate goodness and all the various products and seasons that the citizen needs, and exert maximum efforts despite the difficult circumstances and challenges facing the country, reaffirming the continuation of providing continuous support to farmers and stabilizing them in their lands and exerting maximum possible efforts to provide agricultural production requirements as one of the main pillars of economic development.

The Prime Minister pointed to the government's efforts made over the past years to rehabilitate pumping stations on the Euphrates River and irrigation canals, which currently irrigate hundreds of thousands of agricultural hectares at nominal prices, which contributed to the introduction of more areas planted with various types of summer and winter agricultural crops into production.

Eng. Arnous stressed the importance of enhancing partnership between government agencies concerned with the agricultural sector, the Farmers Union and the Chambers of Agriculture to advance the agricultural sector through a common vision that can be implemented, and to face all the challenges facing the agricultural sector, both plant and animal.

The Prime Minister explained that the state has restored life to government irrigation projects in Aleppo and eastern Aleppo after they were completely destroyed and deserted by terrorism, and the pumping stations on the Euphrates River were restarted by national hands, which provided water for crops in these projects, pointing out that nominal prices are charged to irrigate each hectare, and agricultural diesel is provided to farmers at 700 liras per liter, while its real cost reaches about 7500,<> liras.

Eng. Arnous pointed to the importance of expanding agricultural processing projects and benefiting from the facilities provided in this field, expressing the government's readiness to deal with any offer of participatory investment for the Aleppo tractors factory and put it into service again, in addition to providing facilities to the Farmers Union to secure agricultural tractors.

The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of switching to modern irrigation in light of government agencies bearing 50% of the cost.

Eng. Arnous called on everyone to take responsibility and work together to face the challenges and difficulties facing the agricultural sector, and for each party to play the roles entrusted to it to advance the reality of this sector to return to its glory and high productivity and contribute to achieving food security and securing the requirements of the local market of various agricultural commodities and products.

Eng. Arnous stressed the need to review and develop the laws and legislations concerned with the agricultural sector to keep pace with the current conditions, and to develop agricultural policies that determine the prospects for work in the agricultural sector, pointing to the importance of reducing the depletion of groundwater caused by random drilling wells, which poses a real threat to the sustainability of water in the ground in light of climate changes.

The Prime Minister pointed to the formation of a government committee to study the oceanic customs zone within which livestock is allowed to be transported in order to reduce the smuggling of this important wealth outside the borders, and allow its transfer in the interior regions with simplified procedures, stressing the provision of all facilities for marketing the wheat season.

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