Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T22:22:25.906Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wheat farming in Syria: An approach to economic transformation and sustainability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2007

M. Pala ,
J. Ryan ,
A. Mazid ,
O. Abdallah  and
M. Nachit
M. Pala
Affiliation:
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria.
J. Ryan*
Affiliation:
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria.
A. Mazid
Affiliation:
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria.
O. Abdallah
Affiliation:
The International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), El-Batan, Mexico.
M. Nachit
Affiliation:
The International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), El-Batan, Mexico.
*
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Sustainability has recently become an ingrained concept in crop production systems worldwide, and is the cornerstone of research programs of the global network of research centers operated by the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which functions in collaboration with the various national agricultural research systems. One of the major CGIAR centers, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), focuses mainly on dryland agriculture, but increasingly on irrigation, in its mandate area of West and Central Asia and North Africa. ICARDA has collaboration programs with its host country, Syria, the cradle of civilization and of settled agriculture, and the center of origin of many of the world‘s major crops, notably cereals and pulses. Wheat is, and has been, the most important commodity food in Syria. The Center‘s goal is to enhance wheat productivity in a sustainable manner for the benefit of the country‘s resource-poor farmers and society as a whole. Wheat is grown on about 1.5 million ha or 27% of the total cultivated land in Syria, mainly under rainfed conditions (300–500 mm annual rainfall), which are increasingly experiencing supplemental irrigation, while drier (<200 mm) areas are fully irrigated. Improved cultivars generally combine high yield potential and stress tolerance and tend to have high yield stability, being input-efficient under limited resources in stress environments and input responsive under favorable environments. Such varieties are tested under farmers‘ conditions through multi-year multi-locations. Other aspects of the ICARDA–Syrian collaboration wheat program include improved tillage, with an emphasis on conservation systems, adequate fertilization, and improved agronomic practices, e.g., early sowing in relation to rainfall conditions, optimum row spacing and plant population, and adequate weed control. This vigorous collaborative research–technology transfer program has produced a major shift in wheat production in Syria, from traditional low-input practices with landrace or improved cultivars to widespread adoption (two-thirds of wheat area) of modern cultivars along with improved production technology. As a result of such efforts, national income has substantially increased, and Syria has become a net exporter of wheat. Thus, the collaborative efforts of an international research center and its host country have shown clearly that there is an alternative to a traditional, low-output agriculture and its associated ills.

Keywords

Syrian agriculturewheat production technologyrainfed and irrigated cropping
Type
Research Article
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 2004 , pp. 30 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Borlaug, N.E. and Dowswell, C.R. 2002. Prospects for world agriculture in the 21st century. Paper presented at the workshop on ‘No-till Farming in South Asia’s Rice–Wheat System’, 21 February. Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.Google Scholar
2Jones, M. 1993. Sustainable Agriculture: An Explanation of a Concept. Crop Production and Sustainable Agriculture. Ciba Foundation Symposium 177. Wiley-Interscience, New York. p. 30–38.Google Scholar
3Lal, R. (ed.) 1998. Soil Quality and Agricultural Sustainability. Ann Arbor Press, Chelsea, Michigan.Google Scholar
4Pala, M., Harris, H., Ryan, J., Makboul, R., and Dozom, S. 2000. Tillage systems and stubble management in a Mediterranean-type environment in relation to crop yield and soil moisture. Experimental Agriculture 36:223–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5Cooper, P.J.M., Greegory, P.J., Tully, D., and Harris, H.C. 1987. Improving water use efficiency of annual crops in the rainfed farming systems of West Asia and North Africa. Experimental Agriculture 23:113–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6SCBS (Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics) 1998. Statistical Abstract. Damascus, Syria.Google Scholar
7Perrier, E.R. and Salkini, A.B. (eds) 1991. Supplemental irrigation in the Near East and North Africa. Proceedings, workshop on ‘Regional Consultation on Supplemental Irrigation’, 7–9 December 1987, Rabat, Morocco. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria, and FAO, Rome, Italy. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
8Mazid, A., Tutwiler, R., and Al-Ahmad, H. 1998. Impact of modern technologies on durum wheat production in Syria. In Nachit, M.M., Baum, M., Porceddu, E., Monneveaux, P., and Picard, E. (eds). Proceedings, SEWANA (South Europe, West Asia and North Africa) Durum Research Network Workshop, 20–23 March, 1995. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria. p. 88–102.Google Scholar
9Dakheel, A.J., Naji, I., Mahalakshmi, V., and Peacock, J.M. 1993. Morphophysiological traits associated with adaptation of durum wheat to harsh Mediterranean environments. Aspects of Applied Biology 34:297–306.Google Scholar
10Nachit, N.M., Sorrells, M.E., Zobel, R.W., Gauch, H.G., Fischer, R.A., and Coffman, W.R. 1992. Association of morphophysiological traits with grain yield and components of genotype–environment interaction in durum wheat. Journal of Genetics and Breeding 46:363–368.Google Scholar
11Mamluk, O.F. and Nachit, M.M. 1994. Sources of resistance to common bunt (Tilketia foetida and T. caries) in durum wheat. Journal of Phytopathology 142:122–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12Ryan, J. and Matar, A. 1992. Fertilizer Use Efficiency Under Rainfed Agriculture in West Asia and North Africa. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.Google Scholar
13Harris, H.C., Cooper, P.J.M., and Pala, M. (eds) 1991. Soil and crop management for improved water use efficiency in rainfed areas. Proceedings, International Workshop, Ankara, Turkey, May 1989. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.Google Scholar
14Stapper, M. and Harris, H.C. 1989. Assessing the productivity of wheat genotypes in a Mediterranean climate using a crop-simulation model. Field Crops Research 20:129–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15Matar, A., Torrent, J., and Ryan, J. 1992. Soil and fertilizer phosphorous and crop responses in the dryland Mediterranean zone. Advances in Soil Science 18:82–146.Google Scholar
16Ryan, J. (ed.). 1997. Accomplishments and future challenges in dryland soil fertility research in the Mediterranean area. Proceedings, International Soil Fertility Workshop, 19–23 November 1995. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.Google Scholar
17Pala, M., Matar, A., and Mazid, A. 1996. Assessment of the effects of environmental factors on the response of wheat to fertilizer in on-farm trials in a Mediterranean-type environment. Experimental Agriculture 32:339–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18Jones, M.J. and Wahbi, A. 1992. Site-factor influence on barley response to fertilizer in on-farm trials in northern Syria: descriptive and predictive models. Experimental Agriculture 28:63–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Oweis, T., Pala, M., and Ryan, J. 1998. Stabilizing rainfed wheat yields with supplemental irrigation and nitrogen in a Mediterranean climate. Agronomy Journal 90:672–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Oweis, M., Pala, M., and Ryan, J. 1999. Impact of supplemental irrigation, nitrogen and planting date on yield and quality of durum wheat. European Journal of Agronomy 11:255–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21Jones, M.J. (ed.) 1998. The challenge of production sustainability: Long-term studies in agronomic research in dry areas. Abstracts and conclusions of a workshop held at ICARDA, 8–11 December, 1997. ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria.Google Scholar
22Harris, H.C. 1995. Long-term trials on soil and crop management at ICARDA. Advances in Soil Science 19:447–469.Google Scholar
23Harris, H.C. 1994. Water use efficiency of crop rotations in a Mediterranean environment. Aspects of Applied Biology 38:165–172.Google Scholar
24Ryan, J. and Abdel Monem, M. 1998. Soil fertility for sustained production in West Asia–North Africa. In Lal, R. (ed.). Soil Quality and Agricultural Sustainability. Ann Arbor Press, Chelsea, Michigan. p. 155–174.Google Scholar
25Petersen, E.H., Pannell, D.J., Nordblom, T., and Shomo, F. 2002. Potential benefits from alternative areas of agricultural research for dryland farming in northern Syria. Agricultural Systems 72:93–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Ryan, J. 1998. Changes in organic carbon in long-term rotation and tillage trials in northern Syria. In Lal, R., Kimble, J., Follett, R.F., and Stewart, B.A. (eds). Management of Carbon Sequestration in Soil. CRP Press, Boca Raton, Florida. p. 285–296.Google Scholar
27Christiansen, S., Bounejmate, M., Bahhady, F., Mawlawi, B., and Singh, M. 2000. On-farm trials with forage legume–barley compared with fallow–barley rotations and continuous barley in northwest Syria. Experimental Agriculture 36:195–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar