Hani: war damaged 56,000 hectares of farmland as olive harvest nears 200,000 tonnes

Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani said Israeli attacks have damaged about 56,000 hectares of Lebanese farmland, including roughly 750 hectares of olive groves put out of service by shelling, bulldozing and chemicals such as phosphorus and glyphosate, in an interview with Xinhua carried by Egypt's Vetogate.

About 52,000 of the damaged hectares lie in the South and Nabatieh governorates, with some 4,000 more in Baalbek-Hermel. Olives cover around 62,000 of Lebanon's 260,000 farmed hectares, and about a third of those groves are in the south.

Despite the losses, Hani expects this season's crop to reach about 200,000 tonnes of olives and some 30,000 tonnes of oil. Domestic demand is about 20,000 tonnes of oil a year, leaving 8,000 to 10,000 tonnes for export. He said he has authorised no olive oil imports since taking office.

Opening the first olive festival in Hasbaya, reported by Arab Window, the minister said tests on oil from Nabatieh presses were reassuring and met the Lebanese standard. He set four priorities: raising the share of virgin and extra-virgin oil, branding oil by village of origin, lifting consumption from about four litres per person a year, and cracking down on smuggling and adulteration.

The ministry coordinates daily with the army and UNIFIL so that farmers near the border can reach their trees.