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12 Aug 2020
 2- Horticulture, 9- Forest and Biodiversity Permalink

THE CURRENT CONSERVATION STATUS OF HORTICULTURAL GENETIC RESOURCES

August 12, 2020

The Current Conservation Status of Horticultural Genetic Resources and their Cryopreservation Future in Syria

Shaher Abdullateef, Ina Pinker and Michael Böhme

Department of Horticultural Plant Systems

Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture

Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin

Keywords: plant genetic resources, in situ, ex situ, genebanks, biotechnology

Abstract

Syria, located at the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea, has a unique potential and richness in genetic diversity. There are over 3150 plant species among them world-wide important plants, e.g. almond, apple, date palm, pear, pistachio, and olive. Because of numerous man-made and natural pressures, losses in biological diversity especially for apples and wild olive are recorded. Therefore, in collaboration with IPGRI and FAO, a national program for plant genetic resources conservation was established 10 years ago. It involves in situ, ex situ and in vitro conservation approaches. In the frame of this program, characterization of the genetic diversity of local Syrian cultivars has started. The in situ conservation of wild plant species is carried out through over 22 protected areas and 2 national parks of 315,221 ha in total. Ex situ conservation includes seed genebanks to storage seeds for long-term (at -18°C to – 22°C) and medium-term (at 0°C to 4°C), field genebanks to storage apple, pistachio, wild olive etc., and botanical gardens. In vitro conservation is used to maintain local cultivars of potato. For vegetative propagated plants, cryopreservation could be a promising technique for long-term conservation. However, in spite of availability of cryopreservation protocols, this technique is not used in Syria due to a lack of coordinated research, as well as limitations in efficient and robust cryopreservation protocols and technologies.

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27 Jul 2020
 2- Hydroponic Techniques, 5- Irrigation Technology Permalink

THE ORIGINS OF HYDROPONIC

July 27, 2020

THE ORIGINS OF HYDROPONIC

Adhyayan Panwar

The origins of hydroponics can be traced back to the ancient city of Babylon, where present-day Iraq is located. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is the first known example of soil-less growth of plants. This was around 600 BC. Later on, around 1100 BC, the Aztec Indians got creative with their growing techniques and created gardens that seemed to be floating. These “floating gardens” were called ‘chinampas’, which had a strong combination of roots and lashes, laden with sediment from lake-bottoms, providing nutrients to the crops and plantations.
 Similar floating plantations were discovered by Marco Polo on his visit to China, which left him bewildered as he hadn’t seen anything like this ever before. The first scientific perspective towards this soil-less technique is attributed to the Italian genius, Leonardo da Vinci, who observed that plants and crops needed to absorb minerals to survive. His findings were published after his death, that implied his famous branching rule: “all the branches of a tree at every stage of its height when put together are equal in thickness to the trunk”.

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24 Jul 2020
 2- Hydroponic Techniques Permalink

Hydroponics and problems of modern agriculture

July 24, 2020

Hydroponics and problems of modern agriculture

Emilia Obłuska

 

Our food production and distribution systems look disastrous nowadays. Excessive use of pesticides, fertilizers, soil sterilization and monocultural crops have a huge impact on natural ecosystems and biodiversity on Earth. Climate change and increasingly severe droughts, in turn, hinder farming and cause drastic increases in food prices. If that was not enough, about ⅓ of the food produced goes straighly to the bins and landfills, while 1 in 9 people in the world suffer from malnutrition [1]. The situation calls for a redefinition of agriculture as we know today. Of course, there is no simple remedy for the complicated problems of modern agriculture and food distribution. Many people say, however, that hydroponics can be one of the big steps to repair them.

to be continued

 

24 Jul 2020
 15- Agricultural Finance Permalink

Syrian Agricultural policies before 2011

July 24, 2020

Syrian Agricultural policies before 2011

Abdulaziz Dayoub

 

Syria occupied an important agricultural position in the past, it gained the title of the food basket of the Roman Empire. During the fifties of the last century, that is, after independence, agriculture contributed to the growth of the national economy through agricultural companies planting large areas, until the year 1958, which was considered
the beginning of the deterioration of Syrian agriculture through the law of agricultural reform, which Issued at the beginning of uniting with Egypt, which led to the fragmentation of those agricultural areas and thus a decline in the use of agricultural mechanization.

In the beginning of the sixties of the last century, this law was enshrined during the Ba`ath Party’s seizure of power, where it devoted the fragmentation of fragmented and the deepening of the gap in agricultural relations in addition to the adoption of agricultural policies that led to agriculture reaching the brink of collapse. One of the most important implemented policies is the controlling of the countryside through the construction of “Trade Union Organizations”, in which are affiliated with the Ba’ath Party and local Security Services. Also, the formation of “Agriculture Cooperation Societies”, where corruption is rampant in all its structures. Those policies continued to seize agricultural institutions and empty them of their content professionally and scientifically, and therefore plundered them for the benefit of the powerful in power, which took advantage of every agricultural joint for their service.

In addition, they dealt with the repercussions of the drought phenomenon that affected the eastern region of Syria in the year 2008 in the form of Mafia fashion aimed at seizing the property of farmers by agricultural banks, which led to their forced displacement. Their numbers approached half a million, most of whom were Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syrians, and their lands were distributed to power supporters from clan leaders or security and loyal officials.
This study provides some important recommendations:
– Reconsidering the laws that hinder the development of agriculture
– Restructuring the Ministry of Irrigation and Agriculture, in line with the administration's development and improving skills.
– Attention to “Alternative Agriculture” and Drought-Resistant Crops.
– Other recommendations aimed at the transition of Syrian agriculture to modernity and its effective contribution to the development process.

Read and download the full article in Arabic version

 

24 Jul 2020
 2- Hydroponic Techniques Permalink

How do you grow vegetables in the desert?

July 24, 2020

How do you grow vegetables in the desert?

by Euronews

 

A Syrian farmer in the UAE is producing a variety of salad vegetables and herbs in the inhospitable climate and terrain of the region.

Amjad Alkhal, who works as an agricultural engineer at Emirates Hydroponics Farms, uses a hydroponic farming system – an innovative method of growing plants without soil – but instead using a liquid nutrient solution.

Chilled water passes through insulating tubes to nourish plants like lettuce, which are planted in a fibrous material called rockwool.

to be continued

 

20 Jul 2020
 1- Food Security, Food Security Permalink

Community-led responses to COVID-19 are a matter of urgency in Syria

July 20, 2020

Community-led responses to COVID-19 are a matter of urgency in Syria

LISA BODEN, ANN-CHRISTIN WAGNER, SHAHER ABDULLATEEF & ANAS ALKADOUR

 

 

In a village in western Aleppo, a man walks into a butcher’s shop. He asks the shop assistant to sell him minced meat for 500 Syrian pounds (£0.80). ‘Ala rasi’ (literally ‘on my head’), the vendor replies, using a common formula of politeness. Meticulously, he wraps up the meat, a tiny slice, no more than the size of the customer’s little finger. In times when Syrian butchers charge 11,000 Syrian pounds for a kilogramme of meat, this, of course, is a bitter joke.

It was shared by a participant in our new From the Field project. Since April 2020, and thanks to funding from the SRC-Global Challenges Research Fund at the University of Edinburgh, we have been using remote surveys and ethnography to assess the impact of COVID-19 on displaced Syrians’ food security and agricultural livelihoods in the Middle East. This article presents preliminary results from WhatsApp surveys and digital ‘food diaries’ with around 40 Syrian families in Jordan, Turkey, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and northern Syria. It argues that while COVID-19 may not have reached Syrian communities in the Middle East, its domino effects have, leaving them with no income and unable to cope with price hikes for food and public transport.

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19 Jul 2020
 1- Food Security, Food Security Permalink

Covid-19 and displaced Syrians’ livelihoods along the Turkey-Syria border

July 19, 2020

Covid-19 and displaced Syrians’ livelihoods along the Turkey-Syria border

ANN-CHRISTIN WAGNER

 

 

“We survive from one day to the next”, Um Khaled  explained when we interviewed her in her living room in the old city centre of Gaziantep, southern Turkey, at the end of last year.

Originally from the Palmyra region in central Syria, Um Khaled* and her husband have a background in farming. They now live with their five children in a big city, but most of their income still comes from work in agriculture and food production.

Occasionally, her sons find employment as day workers on a farm half an hour’s drive away from Gaziantep. One quarter of their daily salary of 40 Turkish Lira (approx. USD 6) goes to the owner of the bus who transports them to the fields. Um Khaled herself took part in short-term agricultural trainings with humanitarian organisations, but her lack of Turkish language skills prevented her from finding a more permanent job. These days, some extra money from home-based catering complements her pay from doing shifts in a nursing home.

While many Syrian refugees have been stuck in exile, often for almost a decade, their income is more mobile: it crosses borders through informal channels, and represents a lifeline to loved ones elsewhere, especially inside Syria.

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19 Jul 2020
 1- Food Security, Food Security Permalink

COVID-19 may not have reached Syrian communities in the Middle East, but its domino effects have

July 19, 2020

COVID-19 may not have reached Syrian communities in the Middle East, but its domino effects have

ANN-CHRISTIN WAGNER, SHAHER ABDULLATEEF & LISA BODEN

 

 

In a village in western Aleppo, a man walks into a butcher’s shop. He asks the shop assistant to sell him minced meat for 500 Syrian pounds (£0.80). ‘Ala rasi’ (literally ‘on my head’), the vendor replies, using a common formula of politeness. Meticulously, he wraps up the meat, a tiny slice, no more than the size of the customer’s little finger. In times when Syrian butchers charge 11,000 Syrian pounds for a kilogramme of meat, this, of course, is a bitter joke.

It was shared by a participant in our new From the Field project. Since April 2020, and thanks to funding from the SRC-Global Challenges Research Fund at the University of Edinburgh, we have been using remote surveys and ethnography to assess the impact of COVID-19 on displaced Syrians’ food security and agricultural livelihoods in the Middle East. This article presents preliminary results from WhatsApp surveys and digital ‘food diaries’ with around 40 Syrian families in Jordan, Turkey, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and northern Syria. It argues that while COVID-19 may not have reached Syrian communities in the Middle East, its domino effects have, leaving them with no income and unable to cope with price hikes for food and public transport.

Read More

 

21 Jun 2020
 2- Horticulture Permalink

Study of Morphological Characteristics of the different strains (types) of the Sorani olive in Idleb

June 21, 2020

Mohammad Adel Jawad*, Anwar Alebrahim**, Abdulrahman Albayyoush***

*Dept. Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Aleppo.

**Dept. of Olives Researches in Idleb, GCSAR.

***Postgraduate Student (MSc.)

Abstract

23 strains (types) were elected by a strains (types) of Sorani cultivar, from six sites in Idlib have distinguished strains (types) S19, S12 and those grown in the areas of Hafsargeh and Teb Abes, respectively, in various other strains (types) of Morphological Characteristics. The results showed that the length of the leaf ranged from 4.35 cm in S12 to 5.97 cm in S9, for width ranged from 1.08 cm in the S19 to 1.51 cm in S21, and the florescence’s length ranged from 1.40 cm in S8 to 3.8 cm in S3, and the number of flowers in the florescence ranged from (7.50) in the S8 to (21.70) in the S19, The average fruit weight from 1.62 g in the S13 to 4.70 g in the S9, and the percentages of pulp/ stone between 2.52 in S13 to 6.61 in S4, and stone weight ranged between 0.40 g in S19 to 0.82 g in the S14, and the length of the stone ranged between 1.29 cm in the S19 and 1.88 cm in the S14, also width of the stone ranged between 0.64 cm in S2 and 0.85 cm in the S14.

Keywords: strains (types) of Sorani olive, leaf, florescence, fruit, stone.

Abdulrahman Albayoush

Email: abdob2006@gmail.com

Received 21 /02 /20010 Accepted 11 /05 /20010

Res. J. of Aleppo Univ. Agricultural Science Series No. 2010

21 Jun 2020
 6- Pests and Plant Diseases Permalink

CAPNODIS CARIOSA

June 21, 2020

Capnodis cariosa

Nematodes: The larvae of the nematodes move in the soil to reach the larvae of cappenodes in the soil and within the tree, feeding on them and growing and growing larvae of nematodes within the larvae of the cappenodes. Death of larvae of Capnodos is observed after 4-6 weeks of treatment.

2.4. Breeding and breeding nematodes: Nematode larvae are reared by the larvae of moth larvae (Gallium mellonella) with nematode eggs and white wheat. In insulating cans at a temperature of 10 ° C and repeat the propagation process after a month or two to ensure the continuity of reproduction and vitality Nematoda.

Finally, attention to service operations such as weeding, irrigation and fertilization helps to resist injury and seek to protect the leg in the crown area by placing nets or plastic to prevent the insect from laying eggs on this area.

References:

Friday, Bilal (2018). Method of combating the capnods using nematodes Unpublished search.

Baker, Amer and Miristani, Hazem (2013). Pistachio tree.

Elknas, Abdelkader (2019). Guidance on the chemical resistance of pistachio cabnodos.

Houria, Adel and Alouf, Nada and Muslim, Zakaria (2010). Inventory of Capnodis spp. Coleoptera: Buprestidae in Luziyat governorate.

– FAO (2017). http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC.

-Basha, A.I, Padulosi, S., Chabane, K., Hadj-Hassan, A., Dulloo, E., Pagnotta, M.A. and Porceddu, E. (2007). Genetic diversity of Syrian pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) varieties evaluated by AFLP markers. Genet. Resour. Crop Evol., 54: 1807-1816.

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