Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Damascus, SANA- Cotton is considered one of the strategic agricultural crops in Syria as more than 20 percent of citizens work in cultivating cotton which provides the raw material for textiles, oils and fodders industries, and Syria is distinguished by its high quality cotton products.
The Syrian cotton has a wide fame at the local and international markets and the Syrian farmer is one of the best farmers with regard to cotton production in the world as Syria has been able to rank second on the international level with regard to the production and the cultivated areas.
Cotton agricultural has declined during the terrorist war launched against the country which dragged on for eight years and the production and cultivated areas decreased, while nowadays, work is underway to restore the excellency of this agricultural product and to achieve self-sufficiency, Head of Aleppo Cotton Directorate Waddah al-Qadi told SANA reporter.
The agricultural plan for the year 2019 reached up to 73 thousand hectares with a production expected to reach up to 300 thousand tons of cotton in comparison with 50 thousand hectares last year with a production of 52 thousand tons .
Integrated efforts are being made to restore the cotton crop to its natural position at the levels of agriculture, production and manufacturing, so that Syria will regain its leading position in producing this important strategic crop in the upcoming stage.
Al-Qadi indicated that a conference has been recently held in Aleppo after a hiatus of eight years with the attendance of elite agricultural technicians, researchers and farmers to discuss the reality of cotton crop and to come up with proposals that would contribute to pushing the cultivation of this strategic crop forwards.
The conference also focused on setting a national strategy to develop cotton agriculture from the year 2019 to 2025 in a way that would restore the distinguished status of the Syrian cotton agriculture on the local, regional and international levels.
Rehabilitating all the agricultural labs, centers and factories which had been destroyed by terrorists were also on the table during the conference as the Government allocated SYP 1 billion for rehabilitating cotton ginneries which had been destroyed by terrorists.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri
