Akkar potato farmers suffered a serious blow this season after losing one third of their crops due to bad weather conditions, the local farmers association said Monday.
The crisis was exacerbated by the increasing flow of smuggled potatoes from Syria. To make matters worse, Lebanese farmers are trying to cope with the soaring prices of fertilizers.
“A ton of potato seed, which used to produce between 15 and 20 tons of potatoes, has only produced around five tons this year,” said Omar al-Hayek, head of the association.