SYRIA: Syrian farmers gather last of harvest, as pistachio season draws to an end

Record ID: 278840

  • Title: SYRIA: Syrian farmers gather last of harvest, as pistachio season draws to an end
  • Date: 20th September 2007
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF LABOURER PICKING PISTACHIOS FROM TREE
  • Embargoed: 5th October 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVADRL7MESBU4V6YRZ7GZXTPAQT
  • Story Text: Syrian farmers and labourers immerse themselves in picking and processing the last batches of this season's pistachio nuts.
    Syria is amongst the world's top producers and exporters of the popular nut following Iran, Turkey and the U.S.
    Pistachio trees are hardy and can survive extreme temperatures ranging from -10 degrees Celsius during the winter up to 40 degrees Celsius during the summer.
    They are harvested during the warmer months of the year and will tolerate considerable drought.
    Pistachio farmer Hussein Ibrahim takes great pride in what is the crop, and engages enthusiastically in the harvesting, sorting and distributing process.
    "The picking process includes two phases," Ibrahim explains, "one that starts early in the morning so we can make it in time for the market. At that time also the pistachios are still cold so they do not become glued together (from substance the plant produces) after being picked off the trees."
    "The market takes place at an early hour, between seven and 10 (in the morning), when it ends. Here, we work on separating the nuts -- different groups take on this job. The second phase takes place in the afternoon, when we pick special varieties meant for storage."
    When freshly picked, the nuts have a soft leather-like skin in beautiful tones of red. When it is peeled off, it reveal a hard shell. If the pistachio is ripe enough, the shell is slightly open under the pressure of the fruit at its heart, otherwise it is kept in the sun to open.
    After harvest, pistachios are traditionally washed, husked of their outer shell, roasted and most often salted.
    Syria is home to approximately 10 million pistachio trees and produces 85,000 tons of nuts a year.
    "Syrian Pistachio nuts are cultivated in three main districts which are Aleppo, Hama and Idlib," explained head of the Pistachio department at the Ministry of Agriculture Hassan Ibrahim.
    "The surface cultivated (with pistachios) in Aleppo is about 25,000 hectares. It is followed by Hama which has about 19,000 to 20,000 hectares cultivated with pistachios, then comes Idlib in the third place. The cultivation of pistachios has also spread to other districts such as al-Suwayda, Daraa, Homs and the north-eastern areas," Ibrahim said.
    The Arab world associates pistachios with Syria to such a degree that the fruit is called "fustoq Halabi," or the "Aleppo nut."
    It also plays an important role in Syrian culture and traditions.
    "It is known all over the world as 'pistachio,' but its Latin name is 'Pistacia Vera' which means 'beautiful mouth.' I bring this up because in the old days in Syria, they used to send a bride off with a trousseau containing no less than three or four kilos of pistachio nuts, this would be part of the bride's trousseau. And they would say of a beautiful woman: 'Her mouth is like a little nut,' in reference to the pistachio nut," Ibrahim explained.
    Every summer, with the return of the pistachio season, roadside carts are piled high with pyramids of the reddish-tinted nut. Into paper bags they go by the kilogramme, and quickly disappear, be it in front of a television set or whilst entertaining friends.
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