by Dana Halawi
BEIRUT, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Almond farmers in Mount Lebanon incurred huge losses of up to 80 percent of their agricultural produce this year because of storms that hit Lebanon this winter and heavy rainfall that lasted until April's spring season.
"At first, we were very optimistic about the heavy rain this year. But the rain that fell by the end of March and the beginning of April with strong winds and high humidity caused fungal diseases for almond and peach trees," Ghazi Abou Khzam, a farmer in Chouf, Mount of Lebanon, told Xinhua.
Abou Khzam said that the heavy snow that fell along with the cold weather and the drop in temperature levels destroyed his agro-produce.
"We still have around 15 to 20 percent of our produce," he said.
A series of major storms which caused high winds, heavy snow and rainfall, flooding, and below average temperatures, hit Lebanon this winter season while resulting in devastating impact on the agriculture sector in several areas of the country.
Samer Khawand, agricultural expert at the agriculture ministry, explained that the spring season is usually a season when the fruits grow on the trees.
"Since the rain continued to fall heavily during April this year, the produce of all farmers was impacted and destroyed," he said.
Khawand added that lots of farmers in Mount Lebanon work in agriculture in addition to having other regular jobs.
"In this case, agriculture constitutes around 20 to 30 percent of farmers' income in this area," he said.
He also explained that some other farmers in Mount Lebanon tend to rely completely on their work in agriculture to make a living.
"These people have lost the most because they do not have any other jobs. They borrowed money from banks or cooperatives to grow their produce, sell it and pay back for their loans. But they failed to generate any income so they completely lost their money," he said.
Khawand said that the role of the agriculture ministry is very limited in this case.
"The ministry supervises and assesses the damage. But the basic support to compensate for these losses should come from the High Relief Committee in cooperation with the Lebanese army who should visit the damaged locations and assess the losses," Khawand said.
Meanwhile, Abou Khzam said that almond farmers in Mount Lebanon have no way to compensate for their losses because they rely on this kind of produce only.
Antoine Howayek, head of the Lebanese Farmers' Association, told Xinhua that farmers should pressure the government to compensate for their losses.
He added that farmers this year have incurred heavy losses and most of their produce was destroyed.
