AMMAN — The scarce rainfall so far this year
worries
Jordan Valley farmers who have, as a result, delayed cultivating their
lands with winter crops.
اضافة اعلان
According to farmers interviewed by
Jordan News,
the period for cultivating field crops is normally that between mid-September
and mid-October. They, however, say that lack of water for irrigation poses a
real challenge and has made them postpone planting for the season on time.
Head of the
Jordan Farmers Association Ibrahim
Al-Sharif told
Jordan News that planting crops requires large amounts of
water daily, especially since the weather is still warm.
He said that most farmers will delay planting until
the start of the rainy season, “which will cause a delay in agricultural
production”.
“In light of the declining level of water stored in
dams, or their dryness, cultivating the land now is a risk, and may inflict
great losses on farmers,” he added.
Suleiman Al-Dujan, a Jordan Valley farmer, said
that, just like last year, rain is late to fall, and this “will have serious
consequences for the agricultural sector”.
“We are waiting for winter to have a promising
agricultural season,” he said, adding that this season, “farmers resorted to
cultivating small areas of land to avoid losses”.
Director-General of the Jordan Farmers Union Mahmoud
Al-Oran told
Jordan News that climate change is feared by farmers “who
are accustomed to the rainy season to start in October”, adding that the rain
signals the “beginning of the agricultural season”.
Especially in the southern regions, he said, this
made farmers “reluctant to plow their lands”.
“In the Jordan Valley area, farmers worry about the
lack of water to irrigate crops and feed the dams. As for livestock, animal
breeders rely on pastures and shrubs to reduce their feed bill,” he said.
According to Oran, this is the season when animals
breed, and there must be “medicinal pastoral plants to provide milk for young
animals, and for their medicinal properties”.
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