Jordan warns its farmers of border-hopping Israeli fires
Agriculture Ministry in Amman issues directive calling for removal of dry weeds
Jordan’s ministry of agriculture warned farmers along the border with Israel against the spread of wildfires from Israel into their fields, a local daily reported on Tuesday.
An unnamed government official told the independent Jordanian daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm that Israeli farmers who periodically burn dry grass on the western side of the Jordan River cause fires to spread into the Hashemite Kingdom, causing severe damage to Jordanian agriculture.
The Jordanian Agriculture Ministry instructed local farmers to remove dry grass on their plots, and constructed a “fire line” path along the Jordan River, separating the waterway from nearby Jordanian farms.
Israel’s Agriculture Ministry told The Times of Israel that it had received no information on the matter from its Jordanian counterpart.
Last August, Jordanian farmers threatened to sue Israel for pumping water out of the Jordan River and harming their agriculture, an accusation Israel denied.