Palestine –Abundant production with the start of watermelon season in Gaza

Location: Gaza- Palestine

Language: Arabic

Voice: Natural

Duration: 00:05:21

Source: A24       

Restrictions: A24 Clients

Dateline: 21-05-2022

Storyline:

With the start of the local watermelon harvest season in the Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture said that this season is good due to the large amounts of rain that the strip witnessed.

The ministry added that the area of land planted with watermelons this year amounted to about five thousand dunams, and it is expected to produce about fifty thousand tons of watermelons, which is sufficient to meet the sector’s needs in general.

In the past, Gaza relied on imported watermelons, but in recent years, watermelon seeds and seedlings have been imported and planted in areas in the Strip. The success of the experiment led to self-sufficiency.

The season of harvesting and planting watermelons also contributes to providing many job opportunities that help workers in Gaza to secure income for themselves and their families in light of the difficult economic conditions in Gaza.

This season is also important to support the local product and to secure watermelons at an affordable price for everyone.

Shot list:

Soundbite (Nasser Deeb – Director-General of Farmers Services at the Ministry of Agriculture):

“We opened the watermelon season in Khan Yunis, and thank God the season is good. The cultivated area of this crop in Gaza is more than five thousand dunams, producing nearly fifty thousand tons, and this quantity is good after a heavy rainy season. The quality of the crop has improved due to the availability of appropriate conditions. This quantity meets the needs of the local market and achieves self-sufficiency. Our farmers have high experience in the field of vegetable cultivation. The dunams give us a high production quantity, and this contributed to improving the general average of production in the Strip. Crops are generally exposed to climatic fluctuations, and climatic conditions and some diseases have appeared in recent years, but this season is good and there are no problems, whether in watermelon or other crops.”

Soundbite (Khalil al-Suri – Watermelon merchant):

“This year, watermelon tastes delicious and sweet, and will also be sold at reasonable and cheap prices. The existing quantities of watermelon are sufficient for the people of Gaza, and it is much better than the imported watermelon. In the past, we used to import watermelons, but today the existing agriculture covers the needs, and replaces the import.”

Soundbite (Muhammad Al-Astal – Owner of agricultural land in Khan Yunis):

“The season is good this year, but the weather conditions delayed the watermelon. On some farms, the season was damaged due to these weather conditions that do not help its ripening. Watermelon cultivation provides many job opportunities, and I employ many workers to harvest watermelons, and they secure the livelihood of their families from working on these farms.