Khaberni - Deputy Basem Al-Rawabdeh, a member of the Agriculture Committee in the House of Representatives, made a phone call this evening with the Minister of Agriculture Saeb Khreisat to discuss the causes of agricultural crop fires and the measures taken to limit these fires which pose a direct threat to national food security.
During the call, Al-Rawabdeh emphasized the urgent need to take steps to reduce the recurrence of wheat and barley fires and to protect farmers from increasing losses, urging the ministry to expedite the granting of certificates of origin to farmers, and to increase the number of employees in the silos to speed up the collection of agricultural crops.
He also called for an increase in the number of harvesters in provinces that have extensive wheat and barley cultivation, even if the ministry needs to purchase new harvesters to meet the agricultural season's needs.
The deputy stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation with the Civil Defense Directorate by deploying firefighting vehicles in agricultural areas or stationing them near the fields, alongside implementing awareness programs for farmers about creating "firebreaks" to prevent the spread of fires.
He also called for launching awareness campaigns for citizens to avoid lighting fires or recreating near agricultural crops, in addition to conducting surveillance and security campaigns to limit practices that cause fires.
For his part, the Minister of Agriculture affirmed following up on these demands, noting that the ministry is implementing a number of measures and plans aimed at reducing the damage caused by agricultural crop fires and protecting national agricultural production.
