Chapter Six
Agriculture
Nablus district has varying agro-climatological zones, ranging from the Jordan Valley in the east which is as low as 250 meters below the sea level with only 244 mm average annual rainfall, to a mountainous zone in the central and western parts with an annual rainfall which reaches 663 mm (Meteorological Station in Nablus City, 1995).
Areas of Plant production
Depending on the agro-climatological conditions of Nablus district, the areas of plant production can be classified as follows.
The Mountainous Area
This area includes Nablus city and the surrounding towns and villages, and contains the fertile and the rainfed cultivated lands.
The Northern Part of the Jordan Valley
This area extends from Fasayil in the south to Ein El Bayda and Bardala in the north, and from Froush Beit Dajan in the west to the Jordan River in the East. Most of the agricultural lands in this area are recognized as flat or gently sloping towards the east. Soil of this area can be classified as sandy, clay, or a mixture of both. The soil formation in this region improves the cultivation conditions. The climate of this area is hot in summer and relatively warm in winter. Precipitation rates are low and the potential evaporation is high, thus rainfed agriculture in this part is not effective.
Ghor El Far'a
The agricultural land in this area is fertile, with good water quality for irrigation. Most of the cultivated areas are under irrigation.
Plant production
In the 1994 growing season, the agricultural land of the district was approximately 28,992 hectares. The area cultivated with rainfed crops was approximately 25,634 hectares, while the irrigated agriculture covered approximately 3,358 hectares. Rainfed agriculture produced 24,342 tons of cultivated crops, compared to 67,072 tons produced from the irrigated crops. Figure 6.1 shows the total cultivated areas and production for different cultivated crops (Department of Agriculture in Nablus, 1995).
Figure 6.1: Total area and production of different crops in Nablus district for the 1994 growing season.
Fruit trees:
Fruit orchards cover a total area of approximately 20,062 hectares, with an average total production of approximately 28,267 tons in the 1994 growing season. Rainfed fruit trees are dominant in Nablus district, covering approximately 19,719 hectares. Only 341 hectares of fruit trees area is irrigated. Although irrigated trees have a limited area, they account for nearly 30% of the total production of the 1994 growing season, as shown in figure 6.2 (Department of Agriculture in Nablus, 1995).
Figure 6.2: Total area and production of fruit trees in Nablus district for the 1994 growing season.
Olives trees cover approximately 85% of the total area for fruit trees. This area includes 400 hectares of unproductive olive trees and 16,718 hectares of productive olive trees under rainfed conditions, and only 15.4 hectares under irrigation. Olive trees contribute 58.1% of the total fruit production.
Stone fruit trees, including almonds, plums, and apricots are cultivated under rainfed conditions only. They cover approximately 1,903 hectares and produce about 530 tons/y. Almonds have the lowest productivity of 170 kg/hectare and plums have the highest productivity of 1,500 kg/hectare.
Fig trees make up a total area of approximately 5,174 hectares producing around 2,328 tons per year. These trees are totally cultivated under rainfed conditions. The average productivity of fig trees in the 1994 growing season was approximately 4,500 kg/hectare. Although the figures indicate that fig trees have a good productivity, applying improved methods of cultivation, picking, packaging and marketing may increase or double the productivity.
Rainfed grape vines cover approximately 113 hectares with total production of 283 tons. Irrigated grapes cover only 8.9 hectares and have a total production of 213.3 tons. Irrigated grape vines are mainly cultivated in the eastern part of the district.
In addition, there are 61.9 hectares planted with apples, pomegranates, and other fruit trees which are grown under rainfed conditions.
Irrigated fruit trees, which are cultivated in the lower eastern parts of the district, include citrus, bananas, olives, date palms, grapes and avocado orchards. There are 5 types of cultivated citrus trees that cover a total area of 276.8 hectares and produce 7,844 tons/year. The average productivity of the citrus trees in the 1994 growing season was 2.8 tons/hectare. There are different orange varieties (joint, Valancia, local or baladi, French, and Shamoti), which make up about 50% of the citrus area and 43% of its production. The remaining area of citrus trees is devoted to lemon, mandarin, clementine, and grapefruit.
Field crops and forages:
In the 1994 growing seasons, the total area used for field crops in Nablus district was approximately 6,166 hectares (21.3% of the total cultivated area) with a total production of 7,509 tons. Rainfed field crops and forages cover an area of 5,597 hectares, while irrigated field crops and forages make up only 569.5 hectares (Figure 6.3).
Approximately 91% of total field crops and forages are cultivated under rainfed conditions. Most of planted rainfed field crops are located in the central and western parts of the district. Soil fertility decreases gradually from the west towards the east, and so does the average annual rainfall.
Wheat is the most prominent crop under rainfed cultivation, making up approximately 2,835 hectares (about 50% of the total area of rainfed field crops and forages) and producing 60% of the total yield. Barley, broom corn, bitter vetch, common vetch, chickpeas, lentils, dry broad beans, sesame, fenugreek and dill form the rest of the rainfed production. On average, barley has the highest grain yield ranging between 500 kg/hectare in the eastern parts of the district to 1,200 kg/hectare in the mountainous area of the district. This is followed by wheat producing 610-840 kg/hectare (Figure 6.4).
Irrigated field crops and forages are cultivated only in the eastern parts of the district. These include wheat, barley and green forages. In the 1994 growing season, irrigated wheat had the largest area (364.2 hectares), followed by barley (125.8 hectares). Barley has the highest grain yield (6,000 kg/hectare) followed by wheat (5,000 kg/hectare), while the planted crops that are used for green forages (e.g. alfalfa and Egyptian clover) produced 15,000 kg/hectare (Figure 6.4).
Vegetables
Vegetables cover approximately 2,764 hectares (9.5%) of the total cultivated area in the district. Irrigated vegetables have the largest area, approximately 2,446 hectares (88.5% of the total vegetables area), while rainfed vegetables cover only 318 hectares (11.5% of the total vegetables area). Almost 98% of the total vegetable production come from irrigated vegetables (Figure 6.5).
Cultivation of the irrigated vegetables can be divided into three systems:
- vegetables cultivated under plastic houses, covering 0.6% of the area for irrigated vegetables;
- vegetables covered with low plastic tunnels, covering 17% of the total area for irrigated vegetables;
- and vegetables cultivated in the open field, covering 82.4% of the total area of irrigated vegetables.
Tomatoes, cucumber, green beans, and eggplants are the main crops cultivated under plastic houses. The average productivity differs for each crop: 150 tons/hectare for tomatoes; 70 tons/hectare for cucumber; and 30 tons/hectare for green beans.
Low plastic tunnels are usually used for early season planting, to protect the crops against low temperatures during winter. About 9 different crops are usually planted under low plastic tunnels. Tomatoes and squash are the main crops, occupying approximately 158 hectares and 141 hectares respectively. The average productivity, under low plastic tunnels, varies from 15.8 tons/hectare for squash to 6 tons/hectare for okra and pumpkin.
Twenty-five types of vegetable crops are grown using the irrigated open field system. Squash, cucumber, sweet maize, and tomatoes are the most dominant vegetables. The average productivity of the open field vegetables ranges between 30.6 tons/hectare for turnip and 7.3 tons/hectare for green beans (Figure 6.6).
The variation in productivity between different cropping systems is related directly to the planting date, the duration of growing period, and the micro-climatic conditions existing around the growing plants. Most of the irrigated vegetables are planted in the eastern parts of the district, especially in Ghor El Far'a.
About 10 different vegetable crops are cultivated under rainfed conditions. Dry onions have the largest area, approximately 79 hectares, followed by snake cucumber using 76 hectares. Average productivity varies between 5 tons/hectare for muskmelon to 0.8 tons/hectare for garlic. Most of the rainfed vegetables are concentrated in the mountainous areas of the district.
Land Tenure
Most of the agricultural lands that are located in Ghor El Far'a and the northern parts of the Jordan Valley are owned by families from Nablus city. The majority of the local population work as employed farmers and utilize most of these lands through a sharing system. In other agricultural lands in the district, the farmers and their families own and cultivate their lands.
Irrigation methods
The currently used irrigation methods can be classified into ways:
- Traditional methods, using furrows or basins. These have an efficiency rate of approximately 45%.
- Modern techniques of irrigation, such as sprinklers or drip irrigation systems. The sprinkler system increases the water efficiency rate to 60-70%, and drip system has an efficiency rate exceeding 80%. Modern techniques minimize water losses through evaporation, seepage and deep percolation, and thus save 25-35% of the irrigation water.
The application of the above systems varies according to the crop type, soil texture, water quality and soil slope. Modern techniques are rarely used by local farmers for irrigating citrus orchards. On the contrary, traditional methods are more popular and used by all farmers. Modern techniques are, however, much more commonly used for vegetables and field crops.
Crop water requirements
Crop water requirement is defined as "the depth of water needed to meet the water loss through evapotranspiration (ET Crop) of a disease free crop, growing in large fields under nonrestricting soil conditions including soil water and fertility, and achieving full production potential under the given growing environment" (FAO, 1984).
ARIJ has conducted an evaluation of the crop water requirements for the different irrigated crops in different parts of the West Bank. Penman method was used in estimating the crop water requirement taking into consideration the following parameters:
- Climatic data (rainfall, relative humidity, temperature, sunshine, and wind speed) was taken from Nablus Weather Station on a monthly basis to represent Nablus city and the surrounding towns and villages as well as Ghor El Far'a. While climatic data from Jericho Weather Station was taken to represent the northern part of the Jordan Valley.
- Crop factors which include the planting date, type of the crop, and growth stages.
Table 6.1 shows the estimated water requirements for the main cultivated crops in open fields and under plastic houses in Nablus district.
Table 6.1: Crop water requirements (CM/Hectare) for the main irrigated crops in Nablus district.Crop Open Field Plastic Houses Tomato "5,180" "6,030"
Cucumber "5,980" "6,560"
Eggplant "4,550" "8,460"
Peppers "4,990" "5,070"
Green bean "3,040" -
Mallow "4,280" "5,000"
Citrus "10,750" -
Bananas "10,450" -
Date Palm "7,000" -
Wheat-eat "4,230" -
Barley "2,500" -
Maize "3,800" -
Green Forages "7,000" -
"Source: ARIJ Water Data Base, 1995." When estimating the real of water requirements for irrigation, the following factors should be taken into consideration:
- Effective rainfall;
- Irrigation method efficiency;
- Soil texture and salinity; and
- Water quality parameters (including salinity, chloride, and sodium).
The quality of the applied water plays a major role in determining the quantities of water needed for irrigation. In Ghor El Far'a, Nablus city and the surrounding towns and villages, the quality of water is good for irrigation. As a result, adding additional water for leaching the salts from the root zone is not necessary. On the other hand, in the northern parts of the Jordan Valley, water which is extracted from wells, suffers from salinity problems as represented by high values of electrical conductivity and/or total dissolved solids, chloride, and sodium. Thus adding more quantities of water to leach the salts from the root zone is very much needed to maintain an acceptable crop yield. Table 6.2 shows the overall water required for irrigating different crops in Nablus district.
Table 6.2: Crop water requirements for different crops in Nablus district for 1994 growing season.Type of crop Area (Hectare) Water requirement (MCM)
Vegetables Open Fields 2015.2 8.47
Low Plastic Tunnels 416.5 1.98
Plastic Houses 14.4 0.86
Field Crops and Forages 569.5 2.42
Fruit Trees 342.4 3.61
Total 3358 17.34
"Source: ARIJ Water Data Base, 1995." The total quantity of water which was utilized for agricultural purposes reached about 31.9 MCM in 1994. Water which is extracted from wells reached about 13.33 MCM and water utilized from flowing springs was about 18.57 MCM.
Human-made Forests
Forested areas in Nablus district occupy an area of approximately 333.2 hectares, distributed over eight major locations. All these forests are human-made. Aleppo pine (Pinus halapensis) is the most dominant forest tree, followed by Brutian pine (Pinus brutia), stone pine (Pinus pinea), and a limited number of cypress trees (Cupressus sempervirens) (Table 6.3).
Approximately 43.2% of the forested areas in Nablus district are located in "Areas C", thus being totally under the Israeli control. The 70 hectares of the forested area (Table 6.3) which are currently under Palestinian control, are located in steep and rocky areas. These areas have not received any maintenance or development (replanting, pruning, or protection) since 1971. The lack of management has made this area vulnerable to disease, insects, fire, and cutting, as well as natural destruction from heavy snow or high winds.
Table 6.3: Areas and distribution of forested land in Nablus district.Location Planting Year Planted By Type of Planted Trees Area (Hectares)
Areas A & B Area C
Jerzeem 1945 Britain Aleppo pine the main & limited pinea pine. 50 5
Ebal 1960-57 Jordan Aleppo pine the main & and limited cypress. -- 30
A'sira Esh Shamaliya 1971 Israel "Aleppo, canary, Brutia, and pinea pine" 10.2 --
"Khlet- Essa(Talloza, Al-Badan)" 1968 Israel "Aleppo pine, and cypress" 29 13.6
Geser Al-Malaqi Project (At the Junction Of Al-Badan and Al-Far'a 1967 Jordan Aleppo pine 25.9 11.1
A’zmut Project 1962-64 Jordan "Aleppo pine is dominant, and little cypress " 70 30
Deir- Al-Hatab 1967 Jordan "Aleppo pine is dominant, and little cypress " -- 35
Al-Tour ---- ---- 4.8 19.2
Total 189.3 143.9
Pesticide usage in Nablus district
The total quantity of pesticides (excluding methyl bromide) used in Nablus district in 1994 growing season, was around 73.0 tons. The annual treated area with pesticides is 5,524 hectares, 43% of which is rainfed farming, and 57% under irrigated conditions. Irrigated agriculture forms about 81% of total pesticide consumption.
Irrigated vegetables make up the largest percentage of treated area with 43%, and consumed up to 57 tons' pesticides, annually.Livestock, Poultry, and Apiculture production Cattle
Over the West Bank, the largest number of cattle is found in Nablus district. There are approximately 2,239 dairy cows, of which 75% are of Friesian breed and the remaining 25% are local (Table 6.4). Natural range lands provide feed for nearly 60% of the local breed of cattle, usually for a period extending from the end of the summer to mid winter. Cereal grains are used as complementary feed when range pasture production is insufficient. Friesian cattle are usually fed cereal grains and forage crops in barns all year.
Table 6.4: Numbers of cattle in Nablus district according to sex and rearing stage, for 1994.Breed Cows Heifers Bulls Calves
Local (Baladi) 535 146 195 93
Friesian 1704 296 250 88
"Source: Records of the Nablus Department of Agriculture, 1995." As for milk production, the Friesian breed of cows has a higher average daily milk production than the local breed and also has a shorter dry period. Whereas the local breed produces an average of 3.4 liters per day per cow, the Friesian breed produces as much as 26.9 liters per day per cow (Records of the Nablus Department of Agriculture, 1995; PARC and Arab Thought Forum 1994).
No factories for milk processing are located in Nablus district. Nearly 27% of the milk produced in the district is consumed fresh. The remaining quantities of milk are processed in villagers homes by traditional methods into yogurt (49%), cheese (22%), and Labaneh (2%). Most of these products are carried to Nablus city market without using coolers or special handling. Only 10% or so of milk products are sold in the villages' local market (PARC and Arab Thought Forum 1994).
Sheep and Goats
The total number of different types of small ruminants (sheep and goats) in Nablus district for 1994 was approximately 73,690 animals. The local breeds of sheep and goats are dominant in the district. The local breed of sheep, known as Awassi, makes up 65.5% of the total number of small ruminants. Goats account for nearly 27.5%, and hybrid Assaf only 7% (Records of the Nablus Department of Agriculture, 1995).
Although the local breeds are more adapted to the climate than other breeds, their milk and meat production, and twin bearing probability are lower than the hybrid breeds of Assaf sheep and mixed Shami goats.
Poultry
The total number of chicken produced in Nablus district in 1994 reached approximately 1,482,000 broiler and 96,000 layer chickens, of which 80% were old enough to produce eggs (Records of the Nablus Department of Agriculture, 1995; PARC and Arab Thought Forum 1994). There are about 286 farms of broilers and 39 farms of layers with varying bird capacities for each farm. Most of broiler farms follow four chickens rearing rounds per year.
Agiculture
Nablus district houses approximately 1,160 permanent beehives and 2000 seasonal ones. The seasonal beehives are temporarily moved to the Jordan Valley during the flowering season of citrus trees (Records of the Nablus Department of Agriculture, 1995).
The Italian breed predominates with approximately 61% of beehives in the district, 35% are of hybrid breeds, and the remaining 4% are of local breed, known as Baladi. On average, the productivity of honey for the different breeds of bees ranges between 11 kg/year for the local bees and 16 kg/year for the Italian bees, per beehive (PARC and Arab Thought Forum 1994).
Recommendations
The following recommendations may be important in contributing to the development of the agriculture in Nablus district:
- Investigating the best methods to improve irrigated agriculture in terms of water use efficiency, environmental sustainability, productivity and marketing.
- Improving the currently agricultural research and extension programs in the district.
- Developing integrated pest management programs with farmers to help them manage agricultural pests without harming the environment, human health, or the market potentials of crops.
- Establishing a Grading and storage center for surplus production should be constructed to meet the international standards of marketing and exporting for agricultural commodities.
- Opening new markets for exporting the surplus agricultural production
