Syria has joined the International Tropical Fruits Network, a non-governmental association set-up under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to promote the development of the tropical food industry.

Syria’s wheat production in 2007/2008 will be lower than projected due to a poor raining season and is now expected to stand at around 4 million tons.

The production of wheat flour reached 2.369 million tons in 2007, according to Ghatfan Al-Azem, the Director-General of the state-owned General Company of Flour Mills (GCFM).

Syria’s Pistachio production is expected to reach 70 000 tons in 2007, and increase to 80 000 tons in 2008.

Wheat production and export will be falling this year because of a shortage of rain during the growing season, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture.

Syria has cancelled all its export contracts for soft and hard durum wheat, as a result of a poor harvest in the country this year, according to Suleiman al-Naser head of the General Establishment for Cereals Processing and Trade.

Syria’s production of sugar beet is expected to reach 1.4 million tons in 2007, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide a loan of USD 20 million to Syria as part-financing of a project to create employment opportunities and reduce water shortages for rural populations.

Syria’s wheat, barely and cotton crops have been hardly hit by poor weather conditions, according to the head of the planning department at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Syria’s production of cotton is expected to drop by a third in the 2006/2007 crop to 650 000 tons

Syria's export of wheat grew 100 percent in 2006, according to the General Establishment for Cereal Processing and Trade.

Syria is the world fourth largest producer of pistachio thanks to a steady growth in planted trees and production

Raw cotton production is expected to fall this year following sharp changes in temperature and heavy rains.

Syria’s exports of cumin grew six fold in 2005.

Since the beginning of the year Syria has exported 2 million sheep worth USD 200 million, almost all to the Gulf markets.