AMMAN — Jordan’s stock of grain reached 1.6 million
tonnes, and will further increase to 2.35 million tonnes in 2023, once storage
is expanded with the completion of new silos, secretary-general of the
Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply Dana Al-Zoubi said.
اضافة اعلان
She said the
expansion is in line with Jordan’s efforts to maintain a comfortable level of
supplies to ensure food security domestically.
Zoubi told
Jordan
News that the efforts are already underway to enhance food security to
reach self-sufficiency in all areas, especially with regards to strategic
essential commodities and food staples, such as wheat and barley.
“We stopped
building silos, with vertical storage, due to their high cost and moved towards
horizontal storage due to the low cost of construction and control,” she said.
She added that
the storage capacity of Juwaida grain silos will rise to about 250,000 tonnes
with the completion of the expansion project.
She revealed
that new grain storage areas will be set up next year in different places
across the country, such as Qatraneh with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes,
Al-Muwaqar with 100,000 tons, and Al-Ghabawi with 100,000 tonnes.
“Now, we have
enough amounts of wheat that are sufficient to cover the need for 13 months,”
she said.
Zoubi noted that
there are other projects to enhance food security. “We are working with Egypt
to establish logistical places for storage, packaging, and manufacturing
industries,” she said.
The
director-general of the Jordan Silos and Supply General Company, Emad
Al-Tarawneh, said that the expansion of the Juwaida grain silos was completed
and that the storage space was inaugurated earlier this week. He said the
project is funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, with a value of JD70
million.
“The Aqaba grain
silos are in the final stages,” he said. But he added that a grain silo in
northern Jordan still awaits funds to start the project.
Tarawneh
explained that the local production of wheat and barley is weak, but that the
Ministry of Agriculture is offering incentives to encourage farmers to
cultivate wheat and barley.
Mahmoud Al-Oran,
secretary-general of the
Jordanian Farmers Union, said Jordan had the option
for early planning, but did not until Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
“We had an early
option to exploit the agricultural areas and provide the necessary support to
Jordanian farmers to cultivate grain, and when the Russian-Ukrainian war
occurred, we started to move,” he said. “Now, it is noticeable that the crisis
is worsening.”
“We need to
develop an emergency plan to get out of the crisis, as Jordan imports 900,000
tonnes of wheat annually, while the local production is 20,000 tonnes,” he
explained.
He said that the
irrigated area is 3 million dunums, which “is not being exploited well.”
“We need good planning
and to work according to serious strategies,” he said, adding that expansion projects
carry a reassuring message to citizens that “we have enough wheat.”
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