Jordan: The government starts executing the "agricultural deed" in spite of the drought

In a meeting joined by the different agricultural directors of the different governates in the Kingdom, the Minister of Agriculture Mr. Radi Al-Tarawna started the meeting with emphasis on the importance of executing the different articles, after being ratified by the authorities, of the agricultural deed which in turn will fulfill HH the King's vision that year 2009 will be the year of agriculture.

Mr. Al-Tarawna stated that the different agricultural needs of the different governates to execute projects will be met according to the deed. Hence needs adding to a total of 108 m JD while having only 50 m JD allocated in the fiscal budget, will be met.

The deed discussed the problems in the agricultural sector especially the increase in the cost of the production material, fluctuation of rain amounts and its irregularity, the several consequent draught years which reduced the quality and quantity of the surface irrigation and underground waters, the lack of seeds for the crops products, the inadequacy of the laws supporting the ideal methods for using existing raw materials for production, the lack of adequate investments to manufacture and utilize the leftovers of the olive squeezing industry and the lack of suitable locations for handling the leftovers and finally the high cost of production in the olive oil industry.

The law number of contributors from the private sector and civil community in the agricultural development process is turning out to be a big problem. There should be qualified agricultural staff recruiting agencies and factories to treat and manufacture organic-fertilizers.

Among other problems is the high salt content of the water in the Jordan River valley and the laws forbidding farmers from digging wells and purifying the salty water, the non-existence of qualified local workers in the field, the high cost of imported labor and the lack of workers training and rehabilitation centers.

The problems facing the live stock sector are the lack of production in the feeding areas due to the lack of rain causing scarcity of the animal feed and the inefficient management of the use of such resources, the high cost of animal feed, medicines and the exclusion of cow, sheep and chicken from the animal feed support scheme.

The deed talked about the credit plan for the period 2009 -2011 which forces the credit association to increase its capital from 34 to 50 m JD annually in addition to providing the association with 10 m JD cash for liquidity from any finance source with easy terms such as the Central Bank or the General Association for Welfare. This will help the association to increase its lending value for the coming three years to
82 m JD.