Jordan Times
Tuesday, July 21, 2004
Drought causes lowest wheat
harvest in 6 years
By Khalid Dalal
AMMAN — Wheat farmers, government officials and agricultural experts may differ
on many issues, but all of them appear to agree on one thing: 2004 is a bad year
for wheat production.
Out of the 3.5 million dunums of arable land in the Kingdom, 850,000 dunums are
planted annually with wheat. This year the country is expected to produce a mere
10,000 tonnes of wheat, the lowest for six years, according to Jordan Farmers
Union (JFU) Chairman Sharary Shakhanbeh.
This will be an unwelcome reminder for the country's 115,000 wheat farmers of
their nightmare in 1999, when production levels reached just 12,000 tonnes in
the aftermath of a severe drought, which caused huge damage to many crops,
especially in the southern parts of the Kingdom. Since the 1999 drought, wheat
production has increased steadily, with levels in 2000 and 2001 respectively
totalling 28,000 and 24,000 tonnes, according to government statistics. This
trend accelerated in 2002 and 2003, when farmers succeeded in tripling
production levels with the total amounts for the two years reaching 74,000 and
69,500 tonnes respectively. The low harvest prediction for 2004 is therefore a
serious setback for farmers, and a reminder of how vulnerable they remain on
seasonal rainfall patterns.
According to the National Centre for Agricultural Research Technology Transfer (NCARTT),
the increase in wheat production from 1999 to 2003 is directly related to
increased levels of rainfall throughout this period. Rainfall increased from
130-185 millimetres (30 per cent of the seasonal average) in 1999, to 800
millimetres in 2003 (90 per cent of the seasonal average). In 2004, however, not
only the level of rainfall declined to 250 millimetres (around 40 per cent of
the seasonal average), but also the Kingdom has experienced no rainfall since
Feb. 27. This situation has been made worse by the two successive heat waves
experienced during the past two months, according to Abdul Nabi Fardous,
director general of NCARTT. “This is the first time in 30 years we have had no
rainfall after February. This is a disaster for farmers planting wheat,” Fardous
explained.
In order to ensure good wheat production, added Fardous, “you need rain to
continue falling until late April or early May. This is the main reason behind
the good harvest in 2003.”
Scientifically speaking, he said, 2004 should be considered a drought year,
especially in the central and southern governorates.
Shakhanbeh agreed, indicating that so far this year, many wheat farmers are
expected to lose around 80 per cent of their harvest. The harvest time continues
until early next month.
The JFU official urged the government to repeat the steps taken in 1999, when a
state of drought was declared, to help farmers overcome their losses.
“Declaring a state of drought will help the government obtain assistance from
concerned international authorities such as the Food and Agriculture
Organisation,” he said. “And from previous years' experiences,” he continued,
“the government might resort to reschedule farmers' debts, offer new loans and
exempt them from some interest on loans.”
Although such measures would be appreciated, wheat farmers like the 65-year-old
Khalil Muslim expressed concerns that they still fail to address their immediate
problems, which are the direct losses incurred as a result of drought.
“I am expecting to lose around JD1,000. This maybe a small amount of money for
many people, but for a small farmer like me it is a disaster,” said Muslim, a
father of 10 from Al Samik area, 30 kilometres south of Amman.
According to a statement by Ministry of Agriculture Secretary General Awni
Taameh, “the ministry has submitted a report to the government concerning the
drought situation and the losses farmers will incur and is currently awaiting an
answer.”
A government official, however, who declined to be named, explained that other
factors need to be taken into consideration and that providing farmers with
compensation is not a straightforward issue. As part of Jordan's commitment to
the World Trade Organisation (WTO), signed in 1999, the country is not permitted
to provide wheat farmers with cash compensation as it directly contravenes
Jordan's obligations, explained the official.
However, there are several measures the government can take to help farmers
whilst remaining in compliance with WTO rules. In Europe and the US, farmers
receive government assistance by indirect subsidies, such as providing farmers
with seeds, reducing water rates and other free input subsidies. “If the damage
this year is too much, the government should do the same,” he added.
One of the measures already taken by the government to assist wheat farmers is
purchasing their wheat at what the Agriculture Ministry described as higher
prices compared to international markets.
“While the government is buying local wheat at JD200 per tonne, the prices of US
and Syrian wheat, for example, stand at JD170 and JD137 per tonne,” said Taameh.
In addition to the US and Syria, Jordan imports wheat, annual demand estimated
at 650,000 to 700,000 tonnes, from Australia, Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan,
Argentina, India, Turkey and Canada.
However, a policy of buying only what the farmers will produce is far from
satisfactory for Abu Azzam, 52, a wheat farmer from Madaba Governorate who is
currently indebted to the banks to the tune of JD70,000.
“I need the government to compensate me for the loss I will incur otherwise my
debts will grow to a point where I am no longer able to repay them,” he
complained, whilst drinking his breakfast tea in his 450-dunum farm.
Hakam Nabulsi, another farmer who owns a 1,000-dunum farm in Husban area on the
southern outskirts of Amman, expected his wheat sales in 2004 to generate around
JD10,000. “This amount will not even cover the production and transport costs,”
he explained. “In good years, each dunum planted with wheat should generate 300
kilogrammes, but I am only expecting 50 kilogrammes per dunum this year. My
1,000 dunums used to generate a profit of JD60,000 at least.”
For Abu Azzam and Nabulsi, however, planting and harvesting wheat is not just a
business but a way of life they inherited from their fathers and grandfathers.
“We inherited it. It is in our blood,” they explained.
So, no matter whether 2005 is a drought year or not, both are determined to
plant wheat again. And as they stand and look up at the clear blue skies, both
are hoping that next year the nature will not be stingy. “Let it be Ya Allah,”
prayed both.