Al-Tabqa farmers worried about their summer crops due to restrain Euphrates water

The farmers of al-Tabqa countryside have begun to cultivate the cotton crop with growing concerns over the Euphrates river's water shortage as Turkey seizes water through dams it has built on the river

18 April, 2018 06:36

ASMAHAN OMAR/AL-TABQA

The cotton crop is considered one of the most important summer crops in the north west of the stratum, which is abundant on the banks of the Euphrates River for the need for intensive irrigation.

Farmers began to plow the land and cut it into marshes a week after the soil was wet and ready to grow, amid fears that Turkey would continue to seize the Euphrates River in areas under its jurisdiction.

Cotton needs intensive irrigation for about 5 to 6 months to harvest.

The lack of water of the Euphrates River, with Turkey continuing to hold it, has raised fears among farmers in a predominantly agricultural area.

However, most farmers have dug wells to secure water to irrigate the summer crop because of the Turkish state's policy on farms.

The Economic Committee of Democratic Civil Administration of al-Tabqa had warned that the continuation of Turkey to hold water threatens the lives of tens of thousands of families along the Euphrates River on the Syrian side.

(T/S)

ANHA