Syria Pistachio Farmers Return To Orchards After Years Of War

(@FahadShabbir)

Syria pistachio farmers return to orchards after years of war

Maan, Syria, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Jul, 2020 ) :Pruning scissors in hand, Syrian pistachio farmer Fadi al-Mahmoud inspected his orchard, hoping for his first harvest after years of war, as nearby army de-miners swept the ground for buried explosives.

"I will be fine as long as my orchard is fine," said the 40-year-old, who returned to his village of Maan in the north of battle-scarred Hama province only months ago, after years of displacement.

The region, long a centre of Syria's famed pistachio production, was controlled for years by militants and rebels, but it fell to President Bashar al-Assad's government forces early this year.

After the violence subsided, many farmers like Mahmoud returned, hoping this season would mark the revival of what was once a leading industry, its produce beloved across the middle East.

"The pistachio tree is the lung that allows the villages of the Hama countryside to breathe," Mahmoud told AFP during a break from pruning the trees with shears and a small saw.

Parting the green leaves, he examined the pistachios, looking for the purple hue on their greenish cream-coloured outer casing that indicates they are ready to be picked.

Syria was once a top exporter of the green nut that is widely used in sweets and sprinkled on ice cream across the Middle East.

The country produced up to 80,000 tonnes a year before the start of the conflict in 2011,mostly for export to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and Europe.

In 2013, according to the United Nations food and Agriculture Organization, Syria was still the world's fourth largest pistachio producer after Iran, the United States and Turkey.