Syria’s Emergency Ministry Launches Media Plan to Raise Awareness of Crop Fires

Syria’s Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management launched a national media plan to raise awareness of agricultural crop fires as part of the 'Be Mindful in Your Work' campaign, aimed at increasing community awareness of the dangers of fires and strengthening preventive measures as the harvest season approaches.

“When the harvest season began and temperatures rose, the number of fires ravaging agricultural crops in Syria has risen in recent days, leaving losses for farmers in several provinces”

Al-Jazeera Net

Damascus-SANA quoted Wissam Zidan, head of the Search and Rescue Program at the Syrian Civil Defense, saying an exceptional rainy season improved seasonal vegetation cover and produced dense growth of agricultural crops, especially wheat and barley, alongside widespread weed growth.

Al-Jazeera Net

Zidan warned that as summer comes and grasses dry, the dense vegetation becomes a highly flammable environment that increases the likelihood of fires igniting and spreading quickly, threatening crops, property, and food security.

SANA said the campaign runs until mid-June, with intensive media coverage between May 15 and May 30, targeting farmers and planters, residents of villages and rural areas, owners of harvesters and agricultural machinery, herders and workers on agricultural lands, and drivers, students, media professionals, local councils, and community events.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that when the harvest season began and temperatures rose, the number of fires ravaging agricultural crops in Syria increased in recent days, with losses for farmers in several provinces.

The outlet said numbers obtained by the Syria Now platform from the Directorate of Media and Communications at the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management showed that from May 15 to June 19 this year the ministry responded to 5,226 fires, including 1,156 fires that affected agricultural crops.

ONG CARE France

Al-Jazeera Net described how winds carry fires between villages, citing a large fire in the countryside of Ras al-Ayn in Hasakah governorate where about 13 agricultural fires were recorded yesterday, Friday.

In Hasakah, residents who helped extinguish flames alongside Syrian Civil Defense teams said strong winds contributed to the spread of fires from the village of Umm Ashba to the village of Al-Mubarkiyah, causing material damage over wide areas.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that in the Hasakah countryside, Mustafa al-Ali described losses including fires affecting olive trees, 150 dunams of agricultural land, and cultivated lands totaling 500 dunams, with one dunam equaling 1,000 square meters.

The outlet also described farmers’ financial strain, saying Deham Al-Azu, a farmer from the Hasakeh countryside, told the Hasakeh Media Directorate he borrowed the cost of fertilizer used in planting his crop that was burned, hoping to harvest and pay off debts owed.

Al-Jazeera Net added that Ibrahim Al-Hamd said his losses were very large, noting that wages for farming, fertilizer, and seeds were all on credit, awaiting completion of the season to settle them.

In SANA’s account of the campaign, Wissam Zidan said the effects of harvest-season fires extend beyond farmers to the entire national economy because these crops represent strategic stocks that contribute to strengthening national food security and protecting the livelihoods of thousands of families.