THE ARID MARGINS OF SYRIA
LAND USE AND VEGETATION COVER
Semi-arid and arid areas of Aleppo and Hama provinces (Syria)
UTILISATION DU TERRITOIRE ET COUVERT VEGETAL
Regions arides et semi-arides des provinces d' Alep et de Hama (Syrie)
+ Traduction arabe

Ronald Jaubert, Agricultural economist, IUED/GREMMO
Françoise Debaine, Geographer, Remote Sensing and GIS specialist
IGARUN - IMAR/GREMMO
Jacques Besançon, Geographer, GREMMO
Mohamed al-Dbiyat, Geographer, IFEAD/GREMMO
Bernard Geyer, Geographer, GREMMO
Gustave Gintzburger, Rangeland ecologist, ICARDA - NRMP
Myriam Traboulsi, Climatologist, University of Lebanon/GREMMO

With the assistance of: Georges Arab, Faik Bahhady, Olivier Barge,
Nabi! Battikha, Asmaz al-Dbiyat, Elias Khoudari
Translations: Mohamed al-Obiyat, Elisabeth Willcox, Nabil Battikha

Maison de l'Orient Méditerranéen, CNRS UMR 5647 GREMMO, Lyon France
IGARUN, Institut de Géographie et d'Aménagement régional de l'université de Nantes, Département IMAR, Nantes France
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas Natural Resource Management Program (Range Project) Aleppo - Syria
Graduate Institute of Development Studies Geneva - Switzerland

Introduction 5
1. The Study Area 6
2. Methods 8
3. Precipitation from 1961-62 to 1994-95 14
4. The Geographic System 16
5. Administrative Agricultural Divisions 20
6. Rainfed Barley (Zones 2, 3, 4) 22
7. Rainfed Wheat and Lentils 24
8. Fruit Tree Production 28
9. Irrigation 30
10. Barley Cultivation in Zone 5 31
11. Steppe Vegetation (Zone 5) 33

Introduction 47
1. La zone d' étude 49
2. Méthodes 50
3. Précipitation de 1961-62 à 1994-95 54
4. La trame géographique 54
5. Les zones administratives agricoles 56
6. Cultures pluviales d' orge 56
7. Cultures pluviales de blé et de lentilles 57
8. Arboriculture 58
9. Irrigation 58
10. Extension de la culture d'orge en zone 5 60
11. Végétation steppique (Zone 5) 61