AMMAN —
Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat announced on Sunday that the ministry is adopting a four-tier plan to encourage
the cultivation of wheat and barley.
اضافة اعلان
Ministry spokesperson
Lawrence Al-Majali told
Jordan News that the plan will focus on allocating interest-free loan packages, through the
Agricultural Credit Corporation, for the production requirements of field
crops.
He added that the seeds needed to cultivate wheat and barley will
be given by taking into consideration the geographical areas targeted and the
climatic conditions.
In addition, the ministry will continue to buy locally farmed
wheat and barley at subsidized prices, which are higher than the international
price of these crops. Majali said that this should lead to increasing the
production of these strategic crops, despite Jordan’s water challenges which
are compounded by climate change and low rainfall rates.
Majali said that Jordan’s annual need is estimated at 1 million
tonnes of wheat, and that the Kingdom’s local production does not exceed 30,000
tonnes.
Taking part on Sunday in a Scientific Research Society discussion
of strategies to expand wheat and barley cultivation as strategic crops, which
constitute the cornerstone of the
food security pyramid, Hneifat talked about
the role of his ministry in supporting farmers, overcoming challenges, and
setting plans to achieve the largest possible return and to increase
agricultural areas.
Head of the
Farmers Union Mahmoud Al-Oran told
Jordan News that the package of measures suggested by the ministry is satisfactory and will
contribute to encouraging farmers to plant wheat and barley, but pointed to the
need to coordinate with the Meteorological Department during each agricultural
season to gauge the expected rainfall rates and the areas that are most likely
to give the largest yields.
Majali said that Jordan’s annual need is estimated at 1 million tons of wheat, and that the Kingdom’s local production does not exceed 30,000 tons.
Oran reiterated that the endemic water shortages and
climate change are the farmers’ biggest challenges, and called for finding solutions to
water shortages, including by drilling new artesian wells to irrigate the
crops.
Farmer
Mishaal Al-Arameen told
Jordan News that he grew
wheat in large quantities for many years, but the many challenges Jordanian
farmers face pushed many of them away from such crops.
According to Arameen, farms in the southern regions, such as Wadi
Al-Hasa, were full of grain crops, but today most of them are barren.
Head of the Agricultural Materials Traders and Procedures
Association Mohammad Baibars told
Jordan
News that the Kingdom would not reach self-sufficiency in the two strategic
grains for several reasons, most notably fluctuations in annual rainfall rates,
urban expansion at the expense of agricultural lands, and high costs that most
farmers cannot afford.
He highlighted the role of the
Ministry of Agriculture in expanding farming in western regions, such as Al Hammad Basin
and Al Mudawra, which, in his opinion, will lead to a guaranteed production of
wheat.
If this works out according to plan, and if buying locally farmed
wheat at double world price continues, there will be a trend among farmers to
grow wheat, he said.
“Once this happens, the private sector could respond by investing
in bigger wheat and barley cultivation projects,” Baibars said, stressing that
it is necessary to find a good supply of seeds and provide farmers with
harvesting machines, “which are costly”.
Baibars said that currently, local production of wheat covers only
2 percent of the Kingdom’s needs, and if the ministry’s plan is activated
successfully, it could rise to meet 10 percent of Jordan’s needs.
“In order to achieve this goal, we need to cultivate 350,000 to
400,000 dunums,” he stressed.
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