AMMAN —
Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat said Jordan needs about 1 billion
cubic meters of water to be self-sufficient in wheat cultivation.
اضافة اعلان
Speaking at a media forum organized by the Center
for Defending Freedom of Journalists, Hneifat stressed that Jordan’s stock of
wheat is sufficient for 15 months and called on citizens to grow wheat in any
available spot, as the ministry will buy a tonne of wheat from them at the
highest global price.
The minister stressed that studies that talk about
the danger to food security in Jordan are inaccurate, saying that Jordan ranked
49th in food security in 2021, while it was 64 in 2019.
Hneifat said that the ministry is cooperating with
the Hashemite University to establish a seed bank to preserve indigenous seeds,
with funding provided by the university standing at JD3 million.
He noted that the agricultural sector contributed
5.5 percent to the GDP and 18–20 percent to the overall economy.
The ministry, he said, reached an agreement with the
Royal Society for the Protection of Nature, in cooperation with the
Potash Company, to establish a “cocoon” plant in Jordan, a new mechanism used in
agriculture that has proven successful, contributing to reducing evaporation
and reducing water use.
The head of the Jordan Valley Farmers Union, Adnan
Khaddam, told
Jordan News that farmers suffer from lack of water, and
cannot rely on rainwater due to climate change, and added that the incentives
meant to encourage farmers to grow wheat are insufficient.
Khaddam stressed that the government should help the
Jordanian farmers cultivate wheat and barley by granting them soft loans,
adding that farmers are reluctant to grow wheat “despite the government’s
promise to buy it from farmers at a price higher than the world price because
the farmers do not make a profit”.
He also said that wheat production this year is
lower than last year due to climate change and the water crisis. Moreover,
farmers have the additional challenge of low soil fertility and its dependence
on irrigation.
The president of the
Agricultural Engineers Association, Ali Abu Noqta, told
Jordan News that to cultivate wheat and
barley there is need of rain, and “in this type of farming, farmers face great
risks due to climate change”.
He added that this type of farming depends on
supplementary irrigation or groundwater, “which is costly, especially due to
the high supply costs, which have doubled in the past two years”.
He called for a serious study of the cost of such
farming, and said that the government should not allow the fragmentation of
agricultural land and should provide farmers with seeds, fertilizers and means
of harvesting.
Abu Noqta also
said that climate change was a major challenge and the National Agricultural
Research Centre must select seed varieties that withstand scarce rain, adding
that vegetable cultivation should be replaced with wheat and barley
cultivation, which could be secured through signing contracts with farmers.
Former president of the Agricultural Engineers
Association Abdelhadi Flahat said that the government should think of ways to
incentivize farmers to grow wheat and barley, by bearing part of the production
cost, “so that farmers make reasonable profits and thus help the country reach
the important goal of achieving food security”.
He emphasized the government’s role in supporting
the cultivation of wheat and barley as strategic crops, explaining that this
year the purchase price for wheat seeds was JD500 per ton and of wheat for
consumption was JD420 per ton, while barley was priced at JD420 for seeds, and
JD370 for fodder.
He said that the 20,000 tons of these two grains produced
this year constitute a “weak” production, and the government should take
exceptional measures to address this issue.
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