The Minister of Agriculture, Muhammad Hassan Qatna, announced raising the purchase price of the wheat crop from farmers for the next season to 1,500 Syrian pounds.
During his meeting with the People’s Assembly’s Agriculture and Water Resources Committee, Qatana said that “work is underway to secure fodder for livestock, at prices reduced by 25 percent for bran, and up to 10 percent for the rest of the products,” according to SANA news agency.
He added, “The Ministry of Agriculture issued an early production plan with the aim of enabling farmers to prepare their lands and obtain production requirements at an early date.”
Last March, the Syrian government announced that it would raise the purchase price of a kilogram of wheat from farmers for the 2021 season from 550 to 800 Syrian pounds, in addition to 100 pounds as a delivery bonus for each kilogram of wheat, bringing the total price of a kilo to 900 pounds.
Last year, the Syrian Grain Establishment bought 700,000 tons of local wheat from the 2020 season, while it imported 675,000 tons of Russian wheat, as previously announced by the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection.
The increase in the price of wheat aims to receive the largest possible amount of farmers, in light of the “Self-Management” of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” controlling most of the wheat-producing areas, and preventing the farmers from handing over their wheat crop to the state.
Last June, the Autonomous Administration set the purchase price of a kilogram of wheat from farmers for the 2021 season at 1,150 Syrian pounds.