Editing Economy of Syria (section)

===Agriculture===
{{Main|Agriculture in Syria}}
[[File:Olive groves in Syria.jpg|thumb|right|Olive groves in Western-Syria, [[Homs Governorate]].]]
Agriculture is a high priority in Syria's economic development plans, as the government seeks to achieve food self-sufficiency, increase export earnings, and halt rural out-migration.<ref name=cp9-10>{{cite news|title=Country Profile: Syria, April 2005|url=http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Syria.pdf|newspaper=Library of Congress – Federal Research Division |pages=9–10}}</ref> Thanks to sustained [[Capital (economics)|capital investment]], infrastructure development, [[subsidy|subsidies]] of inputs, and price supports, before the civil war Syria went from a net importer of many agricultural products to an exporter of cotton, fruits, [[vegetable]]s, and other foodstuffs. One of the prime reasons for this turnaround was the government's investment in huge [[irrigation]] systems in northern and northeastern Syria.<ref name="state.gov">[https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/syria/47567.htm Syria (08/04)] . US State Department.</ref> The agriculture sector, as of 2009, employed about 17% of the labor force and generates about 21% of the gross domestic product,<ref name="databank.worldbank.org">[http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/home.do?Step=2&id=4&DisplayAggregation=N&SdmxSupported=Y&CNO=2&SET_BRANDING=YES The World Bank DataBank | Explore . Create . Share]. Databank.worldbank.org.</ref><ref name="cp11"/> of which livestock accounted for 16%, and fruit and grains for more than 40%.<ref name=cp9-10/>

In 2015, Syria's main exports included spice seeds ($83.2 million), apples and pears ($53.2 million).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/syr/|title=Syria|website=atlas.media.mit.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-04-28|archive-date=18 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118135310/https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/syr/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Most land is privately owned, a crucial factor behind the sector's success.<ref name=cp9-10/> Of Syria's {{cvt|196,000|km2}},<ref name="state.gov"/> about 28% of it is cultivated, and 21% of that total is irrigated. Most irrigated land is designated "strategic", meaning that it encounters significant state intervention in terms of pricing, subsidies, and marketing controls. "Strategic" products such as wheat, barley, and sugar beets, must be sold to state marketing boards at fixed prices, often above world prices in order to support farmers, but at a significant cost to the state budget. The most widely grown arable crop is wheat, but the most important cash crop is cotton; cotton was the largest single export before the development of the oil sector. Nevertheless, the total area planted with cotton has declined because of an increasing problem of water shortage coupled with old and inefficient irrigation techniques. The output of grains like wheat is often underutilized because of poor storage facilities.<ref name=cp9-10/>

Water and energy are among the most pervasive issues facing the agriculture sector. Another difficulty suffered by the agricultural sector is the government's decision to liberalize prices of fertilizers, which increased between 100% and 400%.{{when|date=June 2021}} Drought was an alarming problem in 2008; however, the drought situation slightly improved in 2009. Wheat and barley production about doubled in 2009 compared to 2008. In spite of that, the livelihoods of up to 1 million agricultural workers have been threatened. In response, the UN launched an emergency appeal for $20.2 million. Wheat has been one of the crops most affected, and for the first time in 2 decades Syria has moved from being a net exporter of wheat to a net importer.<ref>[https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3580.htm#econ Syria]. US State Department (24 October 2012).</ref> During the civil war which began in 2011, the Syrian government was forced to put out a tender for 100,000 [[metric tonnes]] of wheat, one of the few trade products not subject to economic sanctions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Syria Looks for Big Wheat Purchase|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-grain-syria-idUSBRE87S0JJ20120829|work=Reuters|date=29 August 2012|access-date=31 August 2012|archive-date=30 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830011053/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/29/us-grain-syria-idUSBRE87S0JJ20120829|url-status=live}}</ref>

Less than 2.7% of [[Forests of Syria|Syria's land area is forested]], and only a portion of that is commercially useful.<ref name="CIA World Fact Book – Syria's Economy" /> Limited forestry activity is centered in the higher elevations of the mountains just inland from the coast, where rainfall is more abundant.<ref name=cp10>{{cite news|title=Country Profile: Syria, April 2005|url=http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Syria.pdf|newspaper=Library of Congress – Federal Research Division |page=10}}</ref>