Official Harvest Rates Set
The executive office of Daraa province set fixed wages for harvesting wheat and barley on 4 June 2026, a move officials described as a way to organize farm work and ensure fairness as the season gets under way.
The decision sets per-dunum rates that distinguish between irrigated and rainfed crops and between harvests that include byproducts such as straw and those that do not.
What Farmers Will Pay
For rainfed barley, harvesting a single dunum was priced at 800 Syrian pounds (SYP) with byproducts and 650 SYP without. Irrigated wheat was set at 1,200 SYP per dunum with byproducts and 1,000 SYP without.
Rainfed wheat was fixed at 900 SYP per dunum with byproducts and 750 SYP without, giving harvester operators and farmers a common reference for the season.
The Season Ahead
Harvesting of wheat and barley has recently begun across Daraa. Output this season is estimated at around 30,000 tons of barley and about 100,000 tons of wheat.
The cultivated area covers 35,721 hectares of barley, 10,584 hectares of irrigated wheat and 78,059 hectares of rainfed wheat, according to the local farmers' union.
Reaction From Farmers
The head of the Daraa Farmers' Union, Fuad al-Hariri, said the approved wages had been welcomed and helped balance the interests of growers and harvester operators, who face high maintenance and fuel costs.
He called for a mechanism to bind operators to the approved rates and to penalize any overcharging, underscoring the pressure that input costs place on the rural economy.