AMMAN — Director-General of the Jordan Farmers Union Mahmoud Al-Oran said
that current weather forecasts predicting high temperatures through mid-October
mean a delay in the winter agricultural season, which usually begins in
mid-November, Ad-Dustour Daily reported.
اضافة اعلان
Oran noted
that the heat will delay horticultural activity in the Jordan Valley region,
especially in the Safi Valley, as farmers will delay winter planting, with an
expected shortage of certain products during and after November as a result.
In the past,
Jordan did not face the same problems at the beginning or end of the
agricultural seasons because the weather was more or less stable throughout the
year, Oran claimed. Today, on the other hand, “climate change is controlling
and affecting the cultivation process.”
“We need to
keep pace with it by ending our total dependence on weather in agriculture, and
separating weather from agriculture by improving seeds and agricultural methods
to suit all environmental conditions,” he said.
The
director-general explained that the agricultural sector should be developed to
allow plants to endure heat waves, polar fronts, and other conditions. These
measures will counteract declining production, surpluses, and high prices.
With these
measures in mind, Oran called for enhanced agricultural research in response to
food security-related challenges.
Achieving
food security requires an increase in funds earmarked for agricultural
scientific research, he said.
Jordan’s
eight agricultural faculties at universities must also be developed, with the
number of university majors in agricultural research increased.
Furthermore,
unconventional means of oversight must be introduced to keep pace with the
times, he said, so that “no matter how severe the situation becomes, it can be addressed
with scientific research”.
Humans respond
to infectious diseases with scientific research, and risks to food security can
also be tackled with research, he argued.
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