DAMASCUS (Xinhua) – Syrian agriculture officials and farmers have been complaining that the wheat seeds, recently provided by the United States for farmers in Syria’s northeastern province of al-Hasakah, contain a high degree of nematode (plant-parasitic worm) infection that would harm the soil.
In the laboratory examination that used saline solution, researchers found a number of grains are infected with wheat allele, which is a nematode infection, Jamal Abdullah, head of the examination committee in the laboratory of the agricultural faculty in al-Hasakah, told Xinhua.
He also mentioned that in the visual examination of the sample, there were broken grains and some strange dark galls.
To confirm the results, “we put the sample under the microscope. We noticed the presence of larva. Its length was about 2 millimeters,” said the official.
Saeed Jaji, director of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform in al-Hasakah, told Xinhua that the results of the seeds’ tests were “catastrophic,” stressing that large quantities of nematode seeds were found. He warned that an epidemic would happen if the seeds were planted.
“The engineers started examining the samples, and the result was catastrophic. The samples examined were 1 kilogram, and they contained 30 to 34 nematode seeds,” he said, adding that once the seeds are planted, an epidemic will happen.
The laboratory analysis by the country’s agriculture ministry also confirmed the invalidity of the wheat seeds provided by the so-called U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to Syrian farmers, according to a recent report by Syria’s state news agency SANA.
The ministry found that the seeds are not suitable for cultivation due to a high rate of 40 percent of nematodes, which will pose a great threat to the region’s soil and agriculture.
The offering of the invalid wheat seeds has been widely regarded as a U.S. misconduct in Syria. Jaji pointed out that such a move by the United States is a continuation of its sanction-featured policy to contain Syria.
Since 2014, the United States has been wreaking havoc in the country through shelling, airstrikes, and political manipulation. It has also greatly undermined the Syrian economy by seizing the control of the country’s gas and oil fields and imposing suffocating sanctions that impaired the Syrian people’s livelihood.