‫واقع استخدام البذور التجارية من وجهة نظر صغار المزارعين في الأغوار (محافظتي أريحا وطوباس)The reality of using commercial seeds from the viewpoint of small-scale farmers in the Jordan Valley (Jericho and Tubas governorates)‬

Abstract

This study conducted during the period (2020/2019), where the study represented all farmers in the villages of (Bardala, Kardala, ‘Ein Al-Baida, and Tamoun) in Tubas and the northern Jordan Valley governorate, and the villages of (Marj Na'ajah, Az-Zubeidat, Al-Jiftlik, Al-Auja, Al-Nuweima and Al-Dyouk) in Jericho and Al Aghwar governorate. For the study sample, a simple random sample came to represent 150 male and females’ farmers. The samples was chosen randomly. The study mainly aimed to identify the reality of using commercial seeds from the viewpoint of small-scale farmers and the impact of their use on their economic, social and environmental conditions.
The researcher used the descriptive and analysis statistical approach. Data were collected with the help of previous literature review, and reviewed with accurate criticism and analysis. A questionnaire was used for farmers, and the study outputs analyzed and statistically treated by means of the statistical package (SPSS).

The study results showed that the economic reality of farmers in light of their use of commercial seeds theme indicated that the respondents' answers related between their use of commercial seeds, the rate of productivity of their agricultural holdings of agricultural crops, their annual sales rate and their monthly income. As well as, their economic conditions related to the costs of production inputs and to the cost of purchasing seedlings, seeds and the prices of water Agricultural, pesticides and chemical fertilizers, which reflected negatively on them by accumulating seasonal and annual debts on their shoulders.

The study results showed that the theme of social reality for farmers in light of the use of commercial seeds showed that the majority of farmers see the absence of any kind of social protection for them and their families. As well as, the weak existence of agricultural cooperatives in the sense that there are no agricultural cooperatives to exchange seeds between farmers. The respondents indicated that the commercial seeds affected their ability to transmit the experiences of preserving and multiplying seeds from parents and grandparents. As well as their reliance on temporary and permanent agricultural employment as an alternative to the previously prevailing symbiotic relations between them.

The study results showed that the environmental reality theme for farmers under the use of commercial seeds the farmers’ use chemicals such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and plastics annually, and these quantities accumulate in the soil. as it is known, plants consume a small part of the chemical fertilizers, while the rest either accumulates in the soil in the form of salts that increases salinization with succession of seasons or seeps into the groundwater. In addition, intensive monocultures depend on the use of agricultural pesticides to control agricultural pests, as commercial seeds engineered to resist one or two diseases, but they are not resistant to all diseases, and they are also sensitive to agricultural pests. In addition, the use of agricultural pesticides eliminates biological diversity and eliminates the natural enemies of agricultural pests, and this in turn increases their spread and is difficult to control naturally. The study also indicated that the prevailing pattern in agriculture, which may related to their use of commercial seeds, consumes large quantities of agricultural water.

The study showed that the respondents had their economic, social and environmental conditions correlated with each other and affected to a certain degree their circumstances. The use of chemicals, for example, affects their economic conditions because of their high costs and affects their environmental surroundings because of their impact on soil and biodiversity, and their current agricultural pattern has an impact on their social conditions and their relationships. Among some.

The study concluded by presenting some suggestions and recommendations at several levels. 1. At the official and governmental level, the researcher recommended several recommendations, the most important of which is the activation of the existence of a Palestinian gene bank for seeds, seeds and propagation materials that stimulates local seeds and improves them in a way that serves the supreme national interest and the interest of the farmers. 2. Also to activate the laws governing the possession and use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to a minimum, so that the matter comes to criminalizing the excessive use of chemicals because they pose a threat to the environment, natural resources and human health. 3. At the level of civil society institutions, support and popularize agro-ecological models as an alternative to intensive chemical monoculture. 4. Recording and documenting the knowledge inherited from farmers and motivating farmers to use it and circulate it because of its important role in preserving local seeds and protecting them from the risk of extinction. 5. On the individual level, the researcher recommends motivating farmers to join agricultural cooperative to protect them from the monopoly of traders, and pushing them to form agricultural cooperatives to collect and preserve local seeds and exchange them freely among farmers.