FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 11/01 - SYRIA (6 November)
Recent light showers in parts of the country prompted planting of winter grains. Sowing of the 2002 wheat and barley crops is expected to continue until mid-January next year. Crop and livestock production in 2001 has recovered from the drought reduced harvest of the previous two years. The 2001 wheat production, estimated at 4.5 million tonnes, is about 67 percent above last year’s crop and well above average. Barley production, which is almost entirely rainfed, is estimated at 1.3 million tonnes, well above last year’s reduced crop and about two-thirds above the previous five-year average.