Jalal Suleiman - Aleppo countryside

"God, my son this year is not like the rest of the years there is an improvement is not big but relatively acceptable in production," with these words Hajji Abu Jamil began talking with Al Jazeera Net when asked about his crop of potatoes this year.

Abu Jamil attributed the improvement in the harvest to the return of hundreds of hectares of agricultural land controlled by the Islamic state organization to the local population, the support provided by the local councils, and the heavy rains in the region last year and present.

The area of ​​arable land in the area of ​​the Euphrates Forest is in the north of Aleppo, extending from Azazaz to Gharbels in the east, from the Turkish border north to the city of Bab and south to about 100,000 hectares, 75% of which are grown in grain (Homs, lentils, Barley), while 25% is devoted to vegetables grown near water sources in the most fertile land.

Why decline agricultural performance
The agricultural sector in Syria - like other sectors - saw a significant decline due to military operations since 2011.

The decline in the northern Aleppo countryside is due to a number of factors, most notably the deterioration of the security situation, the difficulty of transportation, and the transfer between the areas and their isolation due to the control of different forces that limit the ease of transferring the requirements of the agricultural process and products between production sites and consumer markets in other regions.

Among the reasons for the decline is the loss of energy sources on which farmers depend, the pumping of underground water for irrigation, the absence of those involved in agricultural work, and the majority of the people of the region heading to the economy of war and leaving agricultural work for its difficulties and low returns.

In addition, military actions and bombings, often targeting agricultural installations, as well as the proliferation of mines.

The most important factor affecting the agricultural sector in this region is the exit of the Tarawat and Ta'if project, due to the systematic bombing and sabotage, theft of the main pumps by the state organization, and the control of the main pumping station at Shabaa village, , North of Quiris Airport, and the Tishreen dam under the control of the Kurdish units, depriving the region of an essential source of electrical energy.

One of the steps that supported the farmers in the countryside of Aleppo was the opening of the export of their products to the Turkish market (the island)

Export to Turkey
Local councils announced that the northern and eastern parts of Aleppo, controlled by the Free Syrian Army factions, were open for export to farmers wishing to sell their agricultural crops - lentils and potatoes - to Turkey, after Ankara announced its intention to import more of these crops from northern Syria.

The local council of the town of Beza'a in the eastern Aleppo countryside issued a statement calling on farmers wishing to export their crops to the Agricultural Bureau in the council to obtain a certificate of origin enabling them to sell their seasons to the Turkish side.

According to Mohamed Kadro, director of the agricultural office in the local council of the town of Baza'a, the purchase price was set by Turkey at 1.75 Turkish lira per kilogram.

There seems to be a demand for the sale of potato crops to be exported to the Turkish market, especially as the prices offered by the Turkish government to farmers are comparable to the prices at which potato crop crops are sold in the local market.

"The Turkish price is better for us than the price offered to us by local market traders," says Mowaffak, a farmer in Aleppo.

"The price of tons of potatoes in the local market is between 70-75 thousand Syrian pounds, which barely covers the costs of production from irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides and labor, in addition to labor costs ... while the local councils offered a bid exceeding 100 Syrian pounds per kilogram, A good number for us as farmers. "

He explained that the current export process will help to reduce the traders' control over the prices of agricultural products in the local market, especially the available ones, and force them to provide a number close to the price of the natural market.