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syria is rich in pistachios, which were once one of the country's main agricultural exports. during the domestic turmoil that lasted for more than a decade, the pistachio industry was severely damaged. now is the pistachio harvest season, cctv reporters visited hama province, a pistachio producing area in syria, to see how fruit farmers here resumed production.

the soft soil and mild climate make the rural areas of hama and idlib provinces in syria an important production area for pistachios. however, these areas are also some of the most severely damaged areas in the syrian civil war.

cctv reporter wang weiwei: we came to the rural area between hama and idlib. during the war, there was fierce fighting here, and the farmers here fled their land. now we find that many farmers are gradually returning here. although the local situation has returned to stability, the agricultural recovery is still facing many crises due to the impact of the war.

35-year-old murek inherited this pistachio orchard from his father. during the war, the orchard was burned and they were forced to flee their land and were displaced for 6 years before returning home last year.

murek, a pistachio farmer in hama: some people sold their land. we had a car, and we sold it to survive.

on the way to the orchard, we saw that the pistachio international market had reopened. before the war, the pistachios here were sold to the gulf countries, bringing good income to the local area. but murek said that after a busy year last year, they hardly received any income.

murek, hama pistachio farmer: when we came back, we found that the trees had died, so we planted new ones, cut down the dead ones, and took care of the sick pistachio trees.

according to the hama agricultural bureau, between 2011 and 2021, farmers were displaced by war and pistachio tree pests and diseases spread.

hamar pistachio farmer murek: the insect eggs are usually here and continue to descend to the roots of the tree, and then the branches that provide nutrients to the tree die until they completely destroy the pistachio tree.

starting in 2021, the syrian government has taken measures to help farmers restore fruit production. however, under the economic sanctions of european and american countries, the need to import fertilizers and pesticides has restricted the recovery of agriculture.

ahmed, director of the hama agriculture bureau: fertilizers and pesticides are expensive and we cannot afford them, so it is difficult to obtain them.

the lack of fuel in syria has also increased the cost of irrigation. the hama agricultural bureau said that the wheat production in hama province has dropped from 3 million tons before the war to 110,000 tons today, and it will take time to restore agricultural production to the pre-war level.

murek used the money from selling his car to install solar panels to generate electricity for irrigation, hoping to overcome the difficulties and restore life to the land.

(source: cctv news)

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