‘Agriculture Ministry seeks to support Jordan Valley farmers’

AMMAN — The Agriculture Ministry is seeking to activate an agricultural risk fund through collecting its subscriptions and providing it with annual financial allocations, estimated to amount to JD1 million this year, Minister Khaled Hneifat said on Thursday.

During a tour in the Jordan Valley to check on citrus farms damaged by frost, whose total area reaches 3,000 dunums, Hneifat said the ministry is also considering the establishment of an agricultural insurance company, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Friday.

Meeting with citrus farmers in the Northern Jordan Valley District, which has a total area of 55,000 dunums of citrus farms, the minister said the ministry has received government approval to grant Jordan Valley farmers interest-free agricultural loans in 2017. He also called on farmers not to plant frost-sensitive vegetables.