Haneen Yassin-Gaza
Palestinian farmer Ibrahim al-Sha'er is trying to save what can be saved from guava trees in his farm in the southern Gaza Strip, after the pest of "Nematoda" and destroyed a number of them at the beginning of this season.
The poet uses various types of agricultural pesticides, which he obtained with great difficulty because of the restrictions imposed by Israel to enter the Gaza Strip, he may succeed in protecting the remaining guava trees on his farm from this pest.
At the beginning of September, the guava harvest season began in the Gaza Strip, but the harvest of farmers a month after the harvest began is not equivalent to 60% of what they collected during the same period last year.
| Prevention of Israeli authorities to export guava increased the burden on Palestinian farmers (Al-Jazeera) |
"Nematodes" and water salinity
The deadly Nematode attacks combined with scarce irrigation water and high salinity have combined to fight the pampered autumn fruit season in the Gaza Strip this year, inflicting heavy losses on farmers to consider stopping their cultivation in the coming years and replacing them with different fruits and vegetables.
Preventing the Israeli authorities from exporting these fruits and lowering their prices in local markets increases the burden on Palestinian farmers.
`` I have been working on this land for 40 years, and I have inherited it from my father, and since then we have planted it with guava, palm and olive trees, '' says the farmer of Al-Jazeera Net, leaning on a guava tree on his farm in Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
He adds that over the past few years, irrigation water has become scarce.In addition, its salinity has increased dramatically as a result of its over-consumption and the leakage of sewage and seawater to groundwater reservoirs.This has caused a significant shortage of guava and weaker trees and a number of them have died.
According to the old farmer, the weakness of trees because of the salinity of the water and its contamination with wastewater made it unable to resist agricultural pests, especially "nematodes", which contributed to the shrinking of cultivated areas of guava.
| Guava tree destroyed by the scourge of "Nematoda" in the Gaza Strip (Al Jazeera) |
Israeli restrictions
Nematodes need a special chemical pesticide, but the Israeli authorities have banned its entry into the Strip for 10 years.
The pesticide is available in smuggled quantities, but it is sold at double prices beyond the limited possibilities of many farmers in Gaza.
In addition to "nematodes", there are many types of insects and worms spread on the guava trees and fruits and cause the wilting of the leaves and stiff, says the poet.
He pointed out that the guava crop fell by 40% compared to last year, and more than 60% for previous years. He says that the area of cultivated guava was more than 6,000 dunums in 2004, but decreased this year to 2500 dunums, and this area may decline in the next five years to only 1,000 dunams.
The poet is considering reducing the area of guava trees to his land, which is about ten dunums, and replacing them with palm trees and olives because they bear the salinity of water.
The decline in guava cultivated land will cause hundreds of young people to lose an important source of livelihood. With the onset of the autumn fruit season, farmers are hiring large numbers of workers to harvest the fruits and supply them to markets.
| Reduced area of guavas will cause hundreds of young people to lose their livelihood (Al Jazeera) |
Production decline
A spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza, Adham Al-Bassiouni, told Al-Jazeera Net that the problem of high water salinity is the most serious problem faced by the guava cultivation sector, in addition to the spread of diseases in this fruit, which led to the destruction of many guava trees and the decline in production quantities and the area of cultivated land.
According to Bassiouni, the Israeli authorities' ban on the export of guava from Gaza nearly 12 years ago has increased the suffering of farmers.
He points out that the Ministry of Agriculture has instructed farmers to plant guava trees in areas where fresh water is available.
As for the pest "Nematoda," Bassiouni stresses that farmers can fight it by sterilizing the soil and fertilize and irrigate it frequently.
It is expected that the production of guava for this year about four thousand tons, compared with the amount in 2004 exceeded ten thousand tons.
The average production per acre planted with guava trees is 1.7 tons of fruits per year, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture.
Guava, nicknamed "Spoiled Fruits", is one of the popular fruits in the Gaza Strip, where it is very popular because of the taste of their favorite sugar and their relatively low price compared to other fruits, where the price per kilo of three shekels (less than $ 1 ).