The U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID) says the wheat seeds it lately offered to farmers in northeast Syria meet “excessive requirements for security and high quality.”
The announcement comes after claims by the Syrian authorities that the seeds donated by the U.S. company “are usually not appropriate for cultivation.”
Final week, USAID donated 3,000 tons of wheat seeds to Syria’s northeast to assist tackle wheat shortages in a area hit by a rising drought.
The Syrian authorities claimed Tuesday, nevertheless, {that a} pattern evaluation of the U.S.-provided seeds discovered they aren’t appropriate for cultivation.
The “seeds include a excessive charge of nematodes [plant-parasitic worms], which reached 40 p.c, and this poses an ideal hazard to agriculture within the area, particularly as its results trigger nice harm that’s exacerbated by the passage of time,” Stated Hajji, head of the federal government’s agriculture directorate in Hasaka province, was quoted by Syria’s state-run SANA information company as saying.
The Syrian authorities official warned native farmers in northeast Syria in opposition to utilizing the seeds, urging folks to destroy them.
A USAID spokesperson, nevertheless, informed VOA in a press release that the wheat seeds undergo therapy and testing for security and high quality earlier than they’re donated.
“USAID is supplying Adana and Cihan wheat seed varieties to Syrian farmers, that are sourced from the area and endure a collection of checks at a professional lab in (the) Kurdish Area of Iraq to confirm their high quality earlier than they’re transported and distributed to farmers in northeast Syria,” the spokesperson stated.
The U.S. official added that the “seeds are examined for purity, germination charge, smut, presence of barley, bugs, Cephalonia, nematodes, and to make sure they’re successfully handled with fungicide.”
Some native farmers informed the Kurdish information community Rudaw they’ve obtained wheat seeds from USAID companions and have already cultivated them of their farmlands.
Northeast Syria is essentially below the management of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led army alliance that has been a significant U.S. accomplice within the battle in opposition to the Islamic State (IS) terror group within the war-torn nation.
The federal government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has minimal presence within the space, doesn’t acknowledge an SDF-led native administration and opposes the presence of about 900 American troops, who’re deployed in northeast Syria as a part of a global coalition in opposition to IS.
John Saleh, a Washington-based Syrian affairs analyst stated, “The Assad regime, together with its most important backer, Russia, don’t wish to see improvement within the Kurdish area, particularly whether it is supported by the U.S.”
He informed VOA the Syrian authorities desires northeast Syria to stay economically weak within the hope that it’ll management it once more if U.S. forces depart in some unspecified time in the future.
“Due to this fact, they unfold a majority of these absurd rumors to create worry and panic amongst farmers who’re in determined want for assist throughout these powerful financial instances,” Saleh stated.