Hama - Syria ranks fourth after Iran, the USA and Turkey in producing pistachio, and it ranks second for the quality of its production. Pistachio is grown mainly in Aleppo and Hama, as Aleppo produces 32.200 tons and Hama produces 23.000 tons.
Pistachio is used in medical, food and perfume industries. It is a lucrative product because of its local and foreign markets as well as the low cost of planting it and ability of adjustment well in areas where temperature is high. That's why farmers call it "Golden Tree",
The pistachio tree is planted in 6% of the total planted area in Syria, with an area of 56,000 hectares centered in 6 governorates: Aleppo 44%, Hama 35%, Idleb 13%, Damascus countryside 6%, Raqqa 1% and Sweida 1%.
Pistachio Department at the Agriculture Ministry, which is based in Hama, expects that Syria's production of pistachio for this season will exceed 61,000 tons with a total number of trees estimated at 10 million trees.
Abdul-Ghafour Tayfour, assistant director of the department, says the economic income of 1000 sq. m. is about 400 kgs, about 30 kgs for one tree. A kilo of pistachio is worth SYP 150 to 250 (USD 1 is SYP 47), that is, a tree can make SYP 6000.
There are 25 kinds of pistachio most prominent of which is the Ashori with its red color. It is the most marketed kind of pistachio. It occupies 85% of the pistachio-cultivated land, while other kinds occupy only 15%.
By Fadi Allafi .Mazen Eyon
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2010
