A critical drop in olive production coupled with a rising cost in the Southern border

In a feature highlighting the gloomy conditions of olive growers in the southern border areas, As Safir daily reported that olive production barely reached one third of the overall rate of the regional produce estimated at 800 thousand dunums. One farmer, Abu Ahmad Kaderi, told the newspaper that old olive trees in the groves of Wadi Khansa, Kfarshuba that used to provide a good season were now barren and unproductive for the third consecutive year. Jamal Taha, for his part, grieved that his orchard which once yielded over 100 dunums of olives, nowadays hardly bears 20-25 dunums. Likewise, Abu Mohamad Halabi, said this year’s harvest only covers the local demand and the farmer’s household needs of olives and olive oil, urging intervention of concerned authorities. In this respect, the head of the Agricultural Cooperative Association in Hasbaya Rashid Zuwaihid, expressed relief about the acceptable rise in the prices of olive oil this year. He said that for the first time in many years, one super virgin olive oil cistern is being sold at about 150 US dollars, while one kilogram of olives has reached 10 thousand Lebanese pounds, hoping this rise would compensate for the accumulative losses over the years. (As Safir, October 10, 2015)