Agriculture in Lebanon: Drop in production and setbacks in exports

Following on similar previous posts on the WEEPortal, on the state of agricultural production and problems facing the agriculture sector in Lebanon, local newspapers carried several news bout this matter during the past few days notably in relation to apple and potato exports, the drop in olives production and the buying of tobacco harvest.  According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 9 trucks representing 20% of total exports failed the technical requirements of the Egyptian authorities as they mentioned that the date of production is 2013 and not 2014.  Traders were given a deadline by Egyptian authorities to correct their data and were subsequently cleared for export. In a related vein, As Safir newspaper noted in its issue of last Saturday that Lebanese traders were surprised, at the Masnaa3 checkpoint at the borders with Syria, by a Lebanese decision endorsed by the veterinary bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture prohibiting the export of potatoes on the ground that the Lebanese authorities have not received the approval for entry from Syrian authorities.
With regards to this year’s olives harvest, both An Nahar and As Safir noted that olive growers in Bint Jbeil and Tyre have suffered from important losses because of diseases as well as climate change.  The newspapers pointed out that olive production has not exceeded 10% of last year’s production level, noting that this will lead to a sharp rise in the cost of olives, olive oil and olive soap as well as in the cost of the material extracted from olive stones and used for heating.  Olive presses and their workers will also be negatively affected.  As for the delivery of tobacco, the vice president of the CGTL and the President of the Trade Union of Agriculture and Tobacco, Hasan Faqih, announced last week the start of the process of buying last year’s tobacco harvest.  The process will kick off in the South on October 21st and will start in 10 centres identified by the Regie.  Faqih noted that the timetable for the remaining areas will be announced at a later stage, expecting the operation to start in the North in early November and in the Bekaa during the second week of December.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Nahar, Al-Mustaqbal 18 October, Al-Safir and Al-Nahar, 18 October, Al-Safir 20 October, Al-Diyar 19 October 2014