The problem of soil salinization goes beyond reduced agricultural productivity, pointing to a complex crisis that threatens the very foundation of agriculture\u2014the soil itself\u2014in Raqqa farming communities near the banks of the Euphrates River, which originates in Turkey and passes through northeastern Syria before flowing into Iraq.<\/p>\n
Falling Euphrates water levels, agricultural drainage networks in disrepair and increased reliance on high-salinity well water\u2014combined with years of drought, rising temperatures and increased evaporation\u2014fuel the gradual buildup of salts on the surface of the soil, ultimately taking it out of cultivation.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-07-at-3.57.04-PM11-800x552.jpeg\")
A video screenshot shows a white layer of salt on the surface of farmland in the Raqqa countryside, 21\/1\/2026 (Yaman al-Sayed\/YouTube)<\/p>\n
A layer of salt<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you see nazaz land, you think it is waterlogged. It isn\u2019t. The soil is as light as sand, and a layer of white salt appears on it,\u201d said Issa al-Yousef, a farmer from al-Mansoura.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Al-Yousef makes his living farming land he inherited from his father more than 15 years ago. In recent years, however, he has primarily grown winter crops fed by the rain, which helps \u201cwash salts from the soil,\u201d he told Syria Direct. A strong rainy season can bode well for the rest of the year, as \u201cland flooded with water in the winter encourages us to grow summer crops, such as cotton.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raqqa farmland relies on agricultural drainage networks that work to remove saline water from the soil\u2014whether through small surface channels or subsurface tile drainage systems that channel excess water away through small holes filled with gravel and perforated pipes, Raqqa agricultural engineer Bashar Khalaf al-Khamri explained.<\/p>\n
The soil, which was previously rehabilitated through irrigation and agricultural drainage networks, is naturally relatively saline and calcareous, containing calcium carbonate. With years of poor maintenance, failing drainage systems and rising groundwater levels, dissolved salts rise once more to the surface of the soil, especially with increased evaporation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As fields are repeatedly irrigated with water from brackish wells or agricultural channels, salts accumulate in the surface layer, preventing plants from fully absorbing water and nutrients. In the early stages of soil salinization, leaves yellow and crops die. Eventually, only salt-resistant crops such as barley can be grown, and sometimes nothing at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Al-Yousef has been grappling with soil salinization for more than a decade. Some land in his village of al-Mansoura \u201cbecame unusable six years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cIts owners abandoned it, and nobody wants to rent or rehabilitate it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs time goes by, the problem is getting worse. The area of unused land is spreading, and the number of farmers shrinks every year,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Issa al-Issa, the head of the Raqqa Farmers Union, described soil salinization as \u201can acute environmental and agricultural crisis, one of the most serious manifestations of desertification, which threatens the agricultural fertility of the region.\u201d He noted that the severity of salinization varies between different plots of land.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Farmers\u2019 livelihoods are directly impacted, as \u201cafter financing their agricultural projects through seeds, fertilizers and labor\u2014through cash or loans\u2014they do not receive a lucrative return from nazaz land, incur great losses and cannot pay their debts,\u201d al-Issa told Syria Direct.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Areas](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/\u0645\u0642\u0637\u0639-\u062c\u0646\u0648\u0628-\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0646\u0635\u0648\u0631\u0629-1.jpg\")
Areas in purple show evidence of reduced vegetation cover and increased soil exposure south of Raqqa\u2019s al-Mansoura village between 2017 and 2026 (Google Earth Engine\/Syria Direct)<\/p>\n
An analysis of satellite images, conducted via the Google Earth Engine platform, which uses artificial intelligence tools, appears to show an expansion in indicators of soil degradation south of Raqqa\u2019s al-Mansoura village between 2017 and 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The analysis was based on a comparison of images taken during the same farming season, using spectral indices that measure vegetation density, soil moisture and surface exposure, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Bare Soil Index (BSI).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The purple spots in the image above represent areas where indicators associated with reduced vegetation cover and increased soil exposure have increased compared to 2017. This indicates a possible deterioration in soil properties, and intersects with the salinization process described by farmers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While these indicators are not, in themselves, direct evidence of salinization, they are used to scientifically monitor areas most vulnerable to soil degradation and lost productivity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The comparison also shows that signs of degradation are no longer confined to the outer edges of agricultural land, but extend into the fields themselves in the form of scattered patches and concentrated clusters, in a pattern that is consistent with the testimonies of farmers and agricultural engineers who spoke of declining yields and portions of land falling out of production in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brackish water and agricultural drains<\/p>\n
Over long years of war and the accompanying shortage and expense of fuel needed to operate water pumps, alongside reduced maintenance and disruption of irrigation and drainage networks, the water sources used by many farmers in Raqqa changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the supply of water from the Euphrates River declined and irrigation canals went out of service, farmers turned to surface wells, despite their high salinity and cost. Others restored to reusing drainage water to irrigate their land a second time, depositing dissolved salts back into the soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a salinization problem when we were using the Euphrates water, which was worsened by the use of well water, but farmers were forced to use it because the river water no longer came,\u201d Abu Jumaa explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWrong practices by farmers\u201d made salinization worse, al-Yousef said. He is among those who used brackish well water after irrigation networks were disrupted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are organic materials and fertilizers that alleviate salinization and treat the soil, but our economic conditions and poor returns [from farming] prevent us from using them,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a drainage channel on our land, like a small ditch surrounding the field. When we watered the land through flood irrigation, excess water with the salts flowed into the channel and from it to the main drains outside the land,\u201d al-Yousef explained. But these networks \u201cbroke down,\u201d largely due to neglect, during the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Agricultural engineer al-Khamri explained further, noting \u201cthe problem is an old one in Raqqa.\u201d Some farmers installed field drainage \u201cin 2009, and tried to control it, but the problem worsened on lands without this system, and some of them went out of service.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the years, al-Khamri has worked with a number of local and international organizations focused on \u201cclearing the main field drains on thousands of kilometers, but the problem is large and extensive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Agricultural drainage channels need regular maintenance and continuous cleaning every three or four years, \u201cbecause of the intensive growth of [reeds and water grasses], which clog the drains and return water to the fields,\u201d al-Khamri added. This, alongside a rising groundwater level, \u201cleads to the nazaz process, especially with high temperatures and increased evaporation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On top of that, \u201cthe land here is calcareous and saline, sometimes with water two meters below or even on the surface of the soil,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The soil salinization worsened over the past five years in particular, after some farmers, facing drought and water scarcity, attempted to create barriers to trap water on their lands and prevent it from draining off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith intense evaporation, salts rise to the surface of the soil, especially in drought years, causing salinization,\u201d explained al-Ibrahim, the agricultural engineer specialized in land restoration. \u201cThe use of agricultural drainage water is one of the most dangerous practices that happened, because using it returns high concentrations of salts to the ground.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAgricultural irrigation and drainage networks in Raqqa need rehabilitation, because they have not been maintained for 10 years,\u201d according to Ahmad al-Ajaji, Raqqa\u2019s Director of Water Resources. He estimated that around 70 percent of drains and agricultural channels need cleaning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started to maintain irrigation and drainage networks immediately after the liberation,\u201d al-Ajaji added, referring to the Syrian government taking control of Raqqa from the AANES this past January. \u201cWe have a plan to clear thousands of kilometers of drains and channels using heavy equipment,\u201d he added, noting machinery \u201chas been distributed to five sectors, and the plan includes starting with the main drainage channels, followed by the secondary and subsidiary ones.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Al-Ajaji expects \u201cit will take around a full year to restore the network and return agricultural rehabilitation projects to their regulatory status.\u201d Once that happens, farmers can \u201cuse the water from suitable irrigation canals, and stop using wells that are not suitable for agriculture.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As an emergency measure, farmers can submit a request to the directorate to \u201cconstruct a deep interceptor drain to draw excess surface water from the soil and channel it outside the field, lowering the water table and reducing salinization,\u201d al-Ajaji said. Once drains are installed, \u201cthe farmer should irrigate the land three times without planting any crops, in order to flush salts out through the drain, which helps mitigate the problem,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Close-up satellite images of fields south of al-Mansoura show clear variation within the same fields. Large areas appear lighter in color and more exposed than healthy cultivated sections, while irregular patches also appear scattered inside the fields.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-06-021514-800x454.jpg\")
A close-up satellite view of fields south of Raqqa\u2019s al-Mansoura village in 2026. (Google Earth Engine\/Syria Direct)<\/p>\n
When spectral analysis was applied to the same image, these areas appeared in purple, indicating sites where vegetation cover declined and exposed soil increased over the past several years.<\/p>\n
![\"Purple](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-06-021452-800x366.jpg\")
Purple highlights areas where vegetation cover declined and exposed soil increased between 2017 and 2026. (Google Earth Engine\/Syria Direct)<\/p>\n
Barley and crop rotations<\/p>\n
As the salinization problem grows worse, choosing crops and following a crop rotation is no longer possible for many farmers, who must instead select suitable varieties that can withstand the increasingly salty soil. Wheat, cotton and vegetable crops have declined, leaving barley as virtually the only successful crop that can be grown on much of the local farmland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWheat and cotton grow, but the yield is poor. Barley is one of the most salt-tolerant crops,\u201d farmer Abu Jumaa said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Growing barley is one way to adapt to the soil conditions, but \u201cthe shrinking range of crops directly impacts the food and economic security of the population,\u201d al-Ibrahim said. \u201cGrowers rely on various crops to meet their own needs or sell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farmers\u2019 inability to vary what they grow or cultivate summer crops such as cotton further exhausts the soil, which does not regain its balance without more diverse crop rotations, farmer al-Yousef added. While his land needs a crop rotation, he \u201ccannot do that because it would mean a financial loss.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy cultivation has been limited to barley and wheat,\u201d he added. The exception was three years ago, when the rains were good and some of his land \u201cflooded,\u201d he tried to return to growing cotton. Many farmers rely on the winter season \u201cbecause of the salinity of the soil, the shrinking list of crops and high growing costs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The year he planted cotton, al-Yousef \u201cwatered the land three times until the seeds sprouted, and when the plants were an inch tall they died due to the salinity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Agricultural engineer al-Khamri warned against relying solely on barley, despite its relative tolerance to salty soils, because it does not address the root of the problem. \u201cBarley may resist salinity for a year or two, but in the end the land will go out of service, especially if it becomes nazaz land,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some farmers are working to maintain their land and slow its deterioration through basic means: deep plowing or leaving it for rain-fed farming, relying on rainfall to wash the surface of the soil, as in the case of al-Yousef. He said some of his land suffering from salinization saw a relative improvement once he stopped growing on it for three years, combined with deep tilling. This year, \u201cfarming conditions were good there,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, these attempts can do little compared to the more costly interventions needed to address saline soils. \u201cWe know organic fertilizer is beneficial, and that saline soil requires [both] deep tilling and fertilizer, but this is beyond most farmers\u2019 abilities,\u201d al-Yousef said. A single dunam of land\u20141,000 square meters\u2014requires between three and five meters of fertilizer, which he cannot afford for his own 10 hectares (100 dunams) of land.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A video of farmer Issa al-Yousef\u2019s land south of Raqqa\u2019s al-Mansoura village shows areas that are white and cracked, as well as areas where crops have not grown in April 2026 (Issa al-Yousef)<\/p>\n
Lack of lab testing and agricultural extension services<\/p>\n
As the pace of soil salinization accelerates, Raqqa farmers are confronting the problem without basic tools for understanding and managing it. Soil and water analyses are largely not available, leaving them to make their decisions based on visual observations or trial and error.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one has visited us to offer guidance or solutions. You are the first person to speak with us about this problem,\u201d Abu Jumaa told Syria Direct\u2019s reporter. Wider access to agricultural laboratories and testing would help farmers accurately determine the salinity levels of their soil, knowledge needed to determine how much fertilizer to add.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there are no labs, we use fertilizers arbitrarily, which causes an increase in soil salinity,\u201d Abu Jumaa added. Most farmers use \u201curea fertilizer, and if the salinity is high, it increases it. We should use ammonium sulfate fertilizer in cases of advanced salinization, since it helps break down salinity, but this cannot be determined without laboratory analysis.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Agricultural engineer al-Khamri agreed that the absence of laboratory analysis drives farmers to use water sources or agricultural practices that could degrade the soil faster. Some unknowingly irrigate their land with high salinity water on the basis of limited experience. Such efforts may initially succeed with barley, \u201cbefore the land goes out of service in just a few years,\u201d he warned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHolding awareness workshops for farmers would help resolve 70 percent of the problem, once farmers understand how salinization happens and change their practices,\u201d al-Ibrahim said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before the war, Raqqa farmers \u201creceived support and guidance from the Ministry of Agriculture\u2019s Agricultural Extension Department and international organizations working on land rehabilitation, as well as through the Farmers Union, which held educational, awareness and extension courses,\u201d al-Issa said. He stressed the importance of \u201crevitalizing the role of agricultural extension and establishing intensive, continuous training courses to reach the widest possible segment of farmers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Raqqa Agricultural Directorate has yet to hold any workshops for farmers on the topic of salinization, but \u201cdirected the extension units to work to raise farmers\u2019 awareness of this problem,\u201d said Ibrahim Ramadan al-Ibrahim, head of the directorate\u2019s Agricultural Affairs and Prevention Department. He added that the Syrian government only regained control of Raqqa city this past January, and that the directorate has had little time to begin its work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Directorate staff have met with \u201cinternational and local organizations to combat salinization, and we asked for help with clearing drainage channels as an emergency measure,\u201d al-Ibrahim told Syria Direct.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Raqqa farmers are calling for \u201cirrigation networks to be maintained and reeds cleared from drainage channels in order to prevent water from building up within fields, as well as immediate support for and provision of the agricultural diesel (mazot) needed to run irrigation pumps and lower growing costs,\u201d al-Jumaa said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-07-160444.jpg\")
A white layer of salt covers part of Issa al-Yousef\u2019s land in the Raqqa countryside in April 2026 (Issa al-Yousef)<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we came in, the wheat and barley crops had already been planted, so farmers did not benefit from the interest-free loan provided by the government, through which they can obtain seeds and fertilizers at cost before repaying it at the end of the season,\u201d said al-Ibrahim from the directorate. The only part of Raqqa where farmers received such loans was the Maadan district, which was already controlled by the government when winter crops were planted, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Al-Ibrahim also revealed that the Raqqa Agriculture Directorate is working to establish an agricultural laboratory in the province, so water and soil samples would no longer need to be sent to Damascus for testing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can the soil be saved?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite the spread of salinization, rehabilitating the land remains possible, provided there is coordinated intervention\u2014something that requires costs few local farmers can afford. The process starts with reactivating agricultural drainage systems, the infrastructure that previously ensured the balance of the soil, agricultural engineers al-Khamri and al-Ibrahim said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cClearing drainage and irrigation channels is the first step towards rehabilitation,\u201d al-Khamri said, explaining that this involves removing weeds and sediment to restore water flow and lower the water table in the soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One such project was implemented in Raqqa five years ago for \u201cland completely out of service that people had abandoned,\u201d al-Khamri recounted. \u201cWe cleared the drainage channels, the groundwater level dropped and the next year the land was cultivated and back in production.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, in some cases \u201cit may be too late,\u201d al-Khamri added. Once \u201cthe land reaches an advanced stage of nazaz, rehabilitation becomes expensive and plants may not succeed.\u201d This was the fate of many agricultural rehabilitation projects in Raqqa, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Agricultural engineer al-Ibrahim said the soil can still be rehabilitated \u201cif basic conditions are met, most importantly resuming maintenance and operation services, regulating water management and changing farming practices.\u201d But because these solutions are tied to infrastructure and public resources, they \u201crequire government efforts,\u201d he noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Al-Khamri advised farmers to construct field drainage systems and \u201cfollow a crop rotation that includes a legume, since legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and increase its fertility, while initially avoiding crops that deplete the land and stress the soil,\u201d alongside the use of \u201corganic fertilizer to improve soil quality.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He warned against the use of urea fertilizer \u201cin lands with high salinity, except in very small quantities.\u201d The local soil is \u201cnaturally poor in organic matter,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is calcareous, but the nature of the lime in it is complex, and exists in a form that plants cannot absorb. We must add organic materials that convert it from its complex form to a simpler form that plants can use.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For farmer Abu Jumaa, these measures\u2014from installing subsurface drainage systems to adding organic matter\u2014remain \u201ccostly and expensive, and we can no longer afford them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Still, if no action is taken, the future may bring ever more harsh consequences, as soil salinization persists and spreads, taking more land out of cultivation. If left unchecked, the process could change the face of the very agriculture for which Raqqa has long been known.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This report was originally published in Arabic<\/a> and translated into English by Mateo Nelson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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