AMMAN — Citrus farmers in the
Jordan Valley have said
that sweltering temperatures and not enough water may have an impact on their
citrus harvesting season.
اضافة اعلان
Khaled Abu Alras, who is a member of the Jordanian
farmer’s union and owns a plantation in Wadi Alrayyan, said his citrus crops are
in their first quarter of growth and because of the heat much of his fruits
have been burned before ripening.
Jordan,
early in the year, suffered from a subpar rainy season that only delivered
around 50 percent of the rain Jordan received last year, affecting dam storage
and lowering the per capita share of potable water.
Abu Alras said that he is concerned about his crops
because he owns 45 citrus orchards and 1,500 dunums in Wadi Alrrayan.
Abu Alras said that he expects that 20 percent of his
crops to be damaged.
Malek Alalawneh, an agricultural engineer, who owns a
citrus orchard said that his trees need regular irrigation, but with the lack
of water the situation has worsened. “We hope that Jordan valley authority
provide us with water,” he said
However, the director of the northern Jordan Valley
Agriculture Directorate Mwfaq Abusahyoon, told
Jordan News, that "we will
witness a good citrus season that will provide our market and export abroad,”
adding that farmers must irrigate their trees regularly until the end of August.
He added that Jordan’s farmers are accustomed to the
conditions in the Jordan valley, presumably meaning heat, and that the Jordan
valley Authority has provided farmers with a good amount of water.
The Jordan valley produces around some 200 tonnes of
produce daily from August to March.
Farmers in the northern Jordan
Valley previously told
Jordan News in February that they anticipated that
the citrus and fruit season would be poor and that they were bracing for
financial losses, due to the lack of irrigation water, and temperature
fluctuations.
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