According to the head of agriculture of the province, Mahmud al Hayu, many agricultural fields around the city have been destroyed and there are no means of delivering food from other areas due to the blockade.
Earlier, the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture had allocated 300 boxes of seeds to the residents of the city. Each box weighs about 4.5 kg. In each one there were four types of vegetable seeds and instructions for their cultivation at home.
Back in November 2016, the government had delivered 2,050 boxes containing a variety of summer vegetables seeds. That is essentially what helped the residents to start cultivating their own vegetables.
Mahmud told Sputnik Arabic that local people eat only basic foods and fresh vegetables have become a rarity in urban markets. In these conditions, home gardens have become the only possible solution.
It is expected that 400 boxes containing seeds of winter vegetables will soon be delivered to the city of Qamishli.
“The government has been helping in supplying the city with seeds since 2015 because it became impossible to buy seeds from shops as they disappeared from sales back in 2014,” Mahmud concluded.
Earlier, it was reported that the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor could become the next target of operations against Daesh after Raqqa is liberated. The statement was made by US Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. John Dorrian during a briefing on Wednesday.
At present, Daesh controls vast territories of Syria's Raqqa province, including the regional capital itself.
The Syrian government-held city of Deir Ez-Zor has been under siege from Daesh since July 2014.
