KOURA, Lebanon: It was hit-or-miss for this autumn’s olive harvest, but most farmers, many of whom are struggling with rising costs and stagnant profits, have their sights set on next year. Toni Sarkis, a farmer in Zghorta in the north, said that this year’s olive season was delayed for over two weeks and his fields yielded less than 50 percent of the average quantity of a bearing season.

Many olive trees alternate one year of bearing with one of production, especially those that aren’t irrigated. As such, it’s uncommon for trees to have two good harvests in a row and last year was a bearing season for many groves.

According to Sarkis, the method used to harvest olives also affects the quality of the crop and thus the quality of the oil produced, as well as the tree’s health and future crops.

“We started gathering ripe olives that have fallen to the ground and shaking the boughs of some of the mature olive trees,” Sarkis said. “Some olive grove owners have started harvesting their crop by hitting the trees with a wooden stick, but this technique damages the olives and the trees’ boughs and branches, and it negatively affects future crops.”

The olive tree is one of the oldest fruit trees in Lebanon and is grown in most all the country’s regions, especially in the north and south. It is cultivated from sea level up to an altitude of around 800 meters.

Samer Khatib, who owns an olive grove in the village of Qwayta in Koura, said that the olive yield this year was around 30 percent of a normal bearing season.

He blamed the poor harvest on high temperatures, noting that the rain that fell was of no use to the crop.

“Last year God gave us a good season and we hope that the harvest will be large in the coming season,” Khatib said.

In the past every village in Koura had an olive press but most of them have closed down to make way for residences and stores, he added.

There are no accurate statistics for olive presses in the country as more than half of them are not registered with the Industry Ministry. In north Lebanon, where there are over 200 olive presses in use, only 85 of those have received license from the ministry.

Before 2007, 13 million olive trees covered 57,500 hectares of the country, but urban and road expansion has reduced the number of trees by 15 percent. Forty percent of the country’s olive groves are in north Lebanon where 20 percent of the harvest is consumed and 80 percent is made into oil.

In central Koura, a member of the Matar family, said that this year’s season was as good as last year’s and the crop yielded over 80 percent of the average yield of a bearing year.

“The area’s residents have already started to harvest their olives that are saturated with oil due to the rains that fell over the region,” he said.

According to Matar, hand-picking olives is the best harvesting method as it is safe for the trees and promotes a good crop.

“Mattresses are laid under the trees and workers pick the olives one at a time,” he said, adding that the most popular technique is striking the tree with a wooden stick.

“Although this method is easy and quick, it severely damages trees and the crop which often spoils,” Matar said.

The mayor of the Koura village of Bkeftin, George Shubah, said olives are grown over 500 acres of land in the village but most of the trees are affected by disease.

“Lack of awareness and the owners’ neglect of their lands negatively affects their olive trees and those on neighboring land,” Shubah said. But according to him, this year’s season was good and the village’s olive presses are being put to use.

As for Malek Ayoubi, a municipal council member in the Koura village of Al-Nakhla, he relies on the help of family members during the harvest season due to high costs.

“The high costs of proper pruning, fertilizing, and using pesticides to combat diseases bring additional costs,” Ayoubi said, adding that the cost of producing 20 liters of olive oil is around $100 but can only be sold for around $100.

“This has caused owners to neglect the trees that their families toiled so hard to plant, and to sell their lands, especially since real estate prices have skyrocketed,” Ayoubi said.