Causes for the sudden decline of pine kernel production in Lebanon still unsure

Lebanon and the Higher Matn area in particular have witnessed a sharp decline in pine production leading to losses estimated in millions of Lebanese Pounds for investors, workers and farmers. A report by Al Diyyar newspaper said that this sector is considered one of the pillars of Lebanon’s agriculture, whereby the livelihoods of more than 50,000 households depend primarily on income from the sales of pine kernel.  Reports indicated that an insect of American origin which migrated to Europe before reaching the Mediterranean region is at the cause of this misfortune. In this respect, Minister of Agriculture, Akram Chehayeb, confirmed the concerns vis-à-vis this insect, adding that measures would be taken soon to address this situation. While exploring the matter further, Al Diyyar spoke with head of Mount Lebanon Pine Tree workers and Farmers Union, Fakhri Al Masri, who for his part gave a different view explaining that the disease is not caused by a specific insect, but by the scarcity in water which Lebanon experienced in the past two years. In order to double check this, the newspaper sent testing samples to laboratories of the American University of Beirut, Kaslik and Al Fanar. The outcomes were inconclusive. Al Diyyar subsequently visited Chehayeb who expressed willingness to assist in this matter and henceforth sent a team of agricultural engineers from the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO to check the problem. The Minister, however, rejected FAO’s the recommendations of the report that expressed the need for re-planting. He considered the stated option as neither cost nor time effective. For his part, Dr. Nabil Nemr, forest insect disease specialist who is also Secretary of the School of Agriculture and Nutrition in the University of Kaslik, supported the opinion that the problem dates back to the years 2010-2011 and exacerbated during 2013-2014. Nemr underlined the findings of recent studies which showed the presence of an insect, originally from the United States and referred to a recent report published a few days ago which also confirms the presence of this insect in Lebanon and links it to pine tree decline. This insect, Nemr added, lives in symbiosis with fruitless pine trees and thus does not constitute a menace in US or Europe, unlike Lebanon, where pine tress are fruitful. Therefore he urged strong measures to combat this problem. (Al Diyyar, 3 March 2015)