Close to Seqalbia by Hama, crop lands ought to be ripe and abundant with harvest.
Yet, Maher Haddad's land sits barren, yielding just a fraction of its typical harvest.
"The current season has been disastrous due to the lack of rain," remarked the 46-year-old farmer.
His acres produced merely 190kg per dunum—far below the 400-500kg achieved in a normal period.
"{We lost what we put in; we've faced losses. It's impossible to finance next season's crops," he added.
Having two growing daughters to feed, he is relying on funds from relatives to survive.
Widespread Crisis
The hardship is seen throughout Syria, where the worst drought in many years has cut crop yields by nearly half.
A estimated wheat shortfall of 2.73 million tonnes looms this season—representing the annual food requirements of more than 16.25 million people.
Growing Hunger
Lacking additional assistance or the means to import supplies, the situation may worsen dramatically.
Over 14 million residents—nearly the majority of the people—presently struggle to eat enough.
Among them, over nine million face severe food shortage, including 1.3 million in extreme conditions.
Water levels has dropped by nearly 70%, damaging the majority of non-irrigated agricultural land.
"It represents the line between families staying in their homes or needing to leave," noted an representative.
Everyday Hardships
Farming communities are parting with animals to supplement diminished earnings, cutting back their daily diet.
Undernourishment levels among children and pregnant women are increasing.
Crops is a basic food in Syria, the main ingredient in flatbread and pasta—affordable necessities that are now becoming more expensive in price.
In the case of a widow who is thirty-nine, purchasing bread has become extremely difficult.
Having multiple kids, she counts on her older sons' wages, which do not cover essential needs.
"Occasionally we borrow money only to purchase bread," she said.
Earlier, a portion of flatbread was priced at five hundred local currency, but currently it is 4,500.
To provide for her household, she needs multiple units a day—an expense of 9,000 currency units, before other food.
Official and Global Response
This crisis presents a major obstacle for the government, which is striving to restore the nation after over a decade of conflict.
Support groups are supplying financial help for those at risk, but officials caution that these are short-term measures.
"Efforts are underway to help agricultural workers in the farming industry," said a representative.
Monetary payments have been distributed to local growers who suffered all of their harvest.
However, after over a decade of conflict, Syria's agricultural industry was already impacted by financial crisis, destroyed water systems, and contaminated land.
Resource Crisis
Within critical growing regions, crop fields need several irrigation sessions per growing period, but as a result of absence of rain, many growers find it impossible to keep up.
"The farmer's primary worry is finding water," said a local expert.
Water depends on energy, and costs have skyrocketed dramatically, hitting eleven thousand to 12,000 currency per litre.
Soaring fuel prices and regular outages have left water pumps out of reach for many farmers.
Long-Term Measures
A priority for the government is investing in water systems—such as solar-powered irrigation systems—to make resources more affordable.
But these initiatives need years and resources—luxuries that wheat farmers do not have currently.
Thus, for millions citizens around the land, there is just one option to count on in the upcoming months: wait for rainfall.