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Emerging snail farms in Lebanon
4-12-2017
Al Akhbar newspaper today highlighted the snail farms in the country which, supported by Italian funds, have flourished to become one of the key alternative agricultures, particularly in the Beqaa area. Since three years, snail farmers (basically 10 breeders) have produced 300 tons of snails every year, mostly of the garden Helix aspersa Italian species, the newspaper wrote, revealing that the Italian role in the development of this unique sector has enforced a kind of monopoly in the export of production. In this respect, the International Snail Farming Institute and the Italian Euro Helix are the sole importers or buyers of the snails while the breeders are committed to import the mothers of snails together with the required nutrients and equipment from the above Italian parties. According to Elie Ward who runs a snail farm in Karak, the climate of Beqaa is more convenient than that of Europe, where the snowfall period is longer and the humidity levels lower. According to Al Akhbar, the startup cost of a snail farm can reach USD 10,000 per dunum, keeping in mind that the average surface area of a heliculture farm is about five dunums. However, what makes up for the breeders, Al Akhbar said, is that they don’t have to worry about marketing outlets under the Italian obligation to import production and the high prices of the products (nearly $ 5 per 1 kg, whereas 12s pieces in restaurants are charged between $ 20 – 30) based on their organic quality and the hygiene breeding conditions. (Al Akhbar, December 4, 2017)
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- العربية
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