Agricultural land drops to 50,000 dunums

The total amount of agricultural land in Palestinian areas has decreased from 200,000 dunums in 1967, to 50,000 dunums in 1997, said Palestinian minister of agriculture Abdul Jawad Saleh.

Saleh said that Israel has confiscated much of the agricultural land in the West Bank under to pretext of setting up so-called security settlements.

In the process of land expropriation, said Saleh, Israel has also seized vast areas of land along the Jordan Valley and as such has taken control of water resources in the area and led to a major reduction of Palestinian population in those areas.

Agriculture Ministry sources said the Jordan Valley represents at least 25 percent of irrigated Palestinian land and supplies some 60 percent of vegetable production in the West Bank.

Saleh said that due to the importance of the area, his ministry has developed a US $14 million plan for the development of agriculture in the Jordan Valley, noting that agricultural products represent for the Palestinians the bulk of their income.