Hasakah farmers call for ending installment payments of wheat

After years of drought, farmers in Hasakah welcomed this year’s rainy season with high hopes. However, delays in paying their financial dues for the wheat crop, along with the introduction of an installment-based payment mechanism linked to the “Sham Cash” platform, have revived their concerns amid mounting debts and rising agricultural production costs.

Mounting debts and a season whose joy was cut short

Farmer Saleh al-Ahmad said that farmers had experienced great joy after years of drought with the arrival of what they hoped would be a prosperous season. However, that joy was cut short by delays in paying the value of their wheat invoices.

Al-Ahmad added: “Farmers incurred significant expenses throughout the season, including the costs of workers, combine harvesters, fertilizers, transportation, and other agricultural necessities, in addition to the debts that have accumulated.”

He explained that farmers are demanding full payment of their dues and said they had received no funds from the state that would justify paying the wheat invoices in installments.

He called on the transitional government to find a solution that would ensure farmers receive their full dues as quickly as possible. If it is unable to pay for the crops, he called for the crops to be returned to their owners, even if farmers have to transport them at their own expense and sell them in the markets for half their value.

Expressing his frustration with the state of agriculture, he said: “We have grown to hate everything called agriculture.”

Crops delivered two and a half months ago, but no payments yet

For his part, farmer Hassan Ali al-Nimr from the Markada area said farmers delivered their crops approximately two and a half months ago and accepted the set price, but have still not received their financial dues.

Al-Nimr explained that farmers covered all their agricultural costs through debt, hoping to repay them after receiving payment for their crop invoices.

He noted that the government had previously promised that payment of all invoices would be completed by the beginning of August, but the disbursement process remains very slow.

Al-Nimr called on the Cooperative Agricultural Bank and the relevant authorities to speed up the payment of wheat farmers’ dues and to cancel the installment-based payment mechanism or the use of the “Sham Cash” platform.

He said that this mechanism does not meet farmers’ needs and does not help them settle their outstanding financial obligations.

Wheat invoice payments began on August 13

On August 13, the Cooperative Agricultural Bank branch began disbursing payments for farmers’ invoices. The branch also received two circulars concerning the mechanism for disbursing the outstanding payments.

Under the approved payment mechanism, a farmer whose invoice is worth less than 1 million Syrian pounds receives the full amount owed. Farmers whose invoices exceed 1 million Syrian pounds receive 1 million Syrian pounds, while the remaining amount is transferred to their commercial account at the Cooperative Agricultural Bank and will be paid as part of the next installment.

ANHA