In this edition
- The agricultural sector in the Arab region was affected through coronavirus pandemic time, and it is getting harder than before. The livestock sector, plant production, and labor sector, all affected the agricultural sector in a negative way. People’s priorities also differed than before and this led to a difference in the supply and demand of some commodities. Setting price ceilings for the products caused losses to farmers especially whose harvested dates coincided with a comprehensive ban. Attention must be paid to this sector in order to encourage the work of other sectors that depend on it, and this could be achieved by several ways, including advance agricultural researches, expand agricultural areas, finding alternative natural resources and preserving the available one, water resources management, training of farmers to use modern agricultural systems, the transition to crops of high economic value, and finally, cooperation between the government and the private company to develop the agricultural sector
- An interview with the Lebanese agricultural engineer Fadi Sarkis, the founder and chairman of NATAGRI.
In this edition, we would like to light up you with the success story of a Lebanese agricultural engineer who established one of the successful companies in the field of agricultural consultancy and fresh fruits export, and he also was one of the former engineers of the Agricultural Materials Company – Lebanon.
Within a short period of time, NATAGRI was able to stand out in the field of consulting and agricultural studies, and also became one of the five most important fresh fruit export institutions in Lebanon. - Maintenance of the irrigation networks is one of the most important management procedures followed in the operation to ensure the safety of the irrigation networks and good water delivery to cultivated plants and reduce operating costs.
The administrator of the irrigation network must constantly review the performance of the system devices, and follow up on the regular maintenance procedures of the pumps and irrigation systems by sprinkler and drip to maintain the efficiency of the system. - The plant is like as any living organism need the nutrients to continue its life; in the past, the plant was using the nutrients stored in the soil. Later on, this storage was not sufficient and hence exists the term of fertilization then with the development we start using the chemical fertilization. Over time, the defects of the chemical fertilizers appear and become obligated to return to nature i.e. biological fertilization, which has been found to positively affect soil properties, physically, chemically and biologically, because of increased crop productivity. Despite all these benefits of biological fertilization there are also some negative points to use it but it is still favorable to use biological fertilization compared to chemical fertilization.
- The program of integrated control of the red palm weevil, means that can limit the spread of this pest and prevent it from reproducing, and the aggregate pheromone traps are the cornerstone of this program, it captures males and females.
The use of this technique led to a decrease in the percentage of palm trees infested by this insect, compared to areas where this technique was not implemented. Traditional pheromone traps need to be maintained periodically and replacing the pheromone capsule monthly. This needed maintenance increases their operational costs. These additional expenses and efforts have been reduced in the newly designed dry traps, where no need to add water and food bait, captured insects can be collected monthly, and pheromone capsules can stay effective for more than three months. The price of the dry trap is very expensive compared to the traditional one, but the differences in the cost can be compensated in the fewer services and efforts needed as well as the more efficient. This dry trap became widely accepted by date palm farmers. - In order to achieve successful management in fish farms and reach the marketing size of fish in a suitable time, it’s necessary to keep our mindful of the food consumption rates, the physical and chemical properties in farm water, and changes in fish weights. Also, we have to consider the maximum carrying capacity of the fish farms, fertilization and remove the harmful plants, to keep the farm in good condition.