Cotton Cultivation Plummets in Hama’s Al-Ghab Region
The current agricultural season has seen a significant decline in cotton cultivation within the Al-Ghab region of western rural Hama. According to official data, the area planted with cotton has shrunk drastically compared to initial projections, with only 4.4 hectares cultivated out of the planned 450 hectares. This shortfall highlights a major shift in farmers’ preferences toward more profitable and less expensive crops.
Talal Al-Mawas, director of the Directorate of Agricultural Affairs and Plant Protection at the General Authority for the Management and Development of Al-Ghab, stated that cotton has become a high-cost crop that places a heavy financial burden on farmers. These costs include expenses for seeds, fertilizers, and fuel for machinery, as well as rising labor wages. Additionally, cotton requires significant water resources and regular attention for pest and weed control. These combined factors have pushed production costs to levels that exceed the financial capabilities of many local farmers.
Al-Mawas further explained that the government-set purchase price for cotton does not reflect the steep increase in production costs. Consequently, the financial returns are insufficient to encourage farmers to maintain their operations, leading many to abandon the crop altogether. Based on current data, total production for this season is not expected to exceed 12 tons. This is a dramatic decrease when compared to the 2011 season, when over 22,000 tons of cotton were produced from approximately 7,006 hectares of land.
Local farmers, including Mohsen Saqr, are calling for urgent government intervention to address these ongoing challenges. Their demands center on the rehabilitation of dams and government irrigation networks to ensure a sustainable water supply. Farmers are also seeking a fair and rewarding purchase price for their crop to be established before the start of the season, along with the provision of production supplies at affordable prices to restore cotton’s competitiveness in the agricultural market.
This decline in Al-Ghab—historically one of Syria’s vital cotton-growing regions—serves as an indicator of the difficulties facing the agricultural sector. The impact of economic shifts and the rising cost of production inputs underscore the need for targeted support to help farmers sustain the cultivation of strategic crops.
Source: Syria Focus Arabic
