AMMAN – Secretary-General of the
Farmers Union
Mahmoud Al-Oran said that the snow that fell on Jordan caused great damage to
farmers, breaking citrus and olive trees, and affecting livestock.
اضافة اعلان
Oran told Jordan News that the bad weather
negatively affected livestock and fowls, with many lambs and sheep, as well as
poultry dying for lack of special care they are in need of.
There has been no assessment yet, said Oran, “but
from the farmers talking to me over the phone about their losses, and from my
knowledge of the poor infrastructure, I can say that there are damages and
losses. I cannot say that the damages are very large, but at the same time, we
should not underestimate the extent of the damages.”
Oran called for immediate compensation to the
farmers, through the Agricultural Risk Fund, which compensates damages
inflicted by bad weather conditions.
President of the Jordan Valley Farmers Union Adnan
Khaddam told
Jordan News that Jordan Valley farmers had already been
affected by the recent frost, and that although losses have not been evaluated
yet, they are expected to be significant, “but not as big as the losses
resulted from the depressions in 2014 and 2008, for example”.
Farmer Basel Ramadneh told
Jordan News that
the farmers’ situation before the bad weather hit was almost tragic due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, “but today, after the snow, many farmers find themselves in
a deplorable condition, after the damage of trees, such as olives, which were a
main source of their livelihood”.
Ramadneh said the agricultural sector as a whole
suffered losses, and if the affected people are not compensated, their
situation will be dire.
Those most in need of help are “especially livestock
breeders, whose livestock died due to their inability to bring in fodder due to
road closures, especially since most livestock breeders live far away and
cannot get their animals’ basic needs in such conditions”, he said.
The damages are
the result of emergency conditions, and this makes it incumbent of the
government to “support farmers, to help them go on with their work and
production, especially since such conditions are recurring, which makes many
farmers reluctant to work in agriculture”, said Ramadneh.
Minister of Agriculture Khalid Al-Hneifat told
Jordan
News that “it is too early to talk now about losses and compensation; this
will be decided after the Ministry of Agriculture cadres study the situation of
each farm and assess the situation, and the losses and compensation will be
determined accordingly”.
The minister stressed that the ministry will not
fail to compensate the affected farmers, according to the available
possibilities.
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