Interview: Syria could have better wheat harvest without obstruction from U.S., its allies, says official

DAMASCUS, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Syria's annual wheat yield this year seems promising but could have been much better if the U.S. forces and their allied militias weren't present in agriculture-rich areas in northeastern Syria, an official told Xinhua in an interview.

Abdul Latif al-Amin, director general of the Syrian Grain Foundation, said that the preliminary data have suggested the wheat output this year could be better than last year.

Al-Amin expressed optimism that Syrian wheat production has started to recover, noting that the agriculture ministry is working to utilize desert lands to plant wheat.

The official attributed the estimated promising wheat harvest to the government's support for farmers and producers by securing all production requirements for guaranteeing a high wheat yield to meet domestic needs.

However, al-Amin mentioned that the crops could be much better if the northeastern province of al-Hasakah, a pivotal breadbasket of Syria, were well under the control of the government.

He said the presence of the U.S. forces and its allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in al-Hasakah is impeding the flow of the province's gain to the government.

Al-Amin said although the government has established three centers in government-controlled parts of al-Hasakah to buy the harvest from the farmers, "the so-called SDF is preventing the farmers from selling their crops to the state-run centers."

The official condemned the U.S. forces and the SDF for imposing tough conditions on farmers who want to sell their harvest to the government.

"Syria is an integrated agricultural country and the conducts of the U.S. and the SDF created a crack in the integration or self-sufficiency of agricultural production in Syria," he said.

In addition to the presence of ground forces in resource-rich areas in Syria, al-Amin also spoke of the negative impact of the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Syria.

He said the sanctions are affecting the production requirements and the imports of spare parts necessary to keep agricultural machinery running.

Calling the sanctions, known as the Caesar Act, "unfair," al-Amin said the act has deprived Syria of "reaching many of the production requirements and accessing the spare parts for industrial establishments and consequently has damaged Syria's overall economy."

Earlier this month, Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous said the country's wheat yield this year is expected to reach one million tons.

The prime minister noted that the wheat quality this year is good, as shown by indicators including the complete maturity of the grain and the specific weight in hard and soft varieties, which tell the plumpness of grains.

Despite hopes for a good harvest, it's still way below the pre-war average grain harvest of 4.1 million tons.

Due to the civil crisis, Syria, a country that used to be self-sufficient in wheat, now has to import wheat from abroad to meet domestic demands.

In his interview with Xinhua, al-Amin said he didn't think that there would be wheat exports from Syria this year.