Unusual climate conditions cause grave losses to agriculture in Lebanon

In its issue of last Monday, Al Mustaqbal newspaper said the sand storm which hit Lebanon lately has directly affected agricultural production in the country, particularly fruit trees and vegetables. Farmers in the plains of Akkar had their share of consecutive natural catastrophes during a period of one month, including the sudden torrential rain that hit the tobacco season, in addition to the sand storm that was harsh on production of apples, figs and grapes as well as of greenhouses that were overrun with sands.

In Shtawra, meanwhile, despite the subsiding of the storm which hit Beqaa two weeks ago, its direct and indirect impact has been heavy on the agricultural sector. The worse hit were figs, grapes, apples, peaches, and some varieties of pears and prunes, and vegetables, like cucumber, lettuce and tomato.

In this context, the chief of Union Vinicole Du Liban, Chateau Ksara CEO, Zafer Shawi, disclosed that the grape season has been severely affected by the unusual weather conditions throughout the year, including the unprecedented low temperatures and frost in winter, the hailstorm in spring and the latest extreme hot temperatures accompanied with dust. Shawi pointed out that some regions have lost nearly 60% of their grapevines produce this year. (Al Mustaqbal, L’Orient Le Jour, September 16, 2015)