Lebanon suffers leaf losses

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has ordered a government survey of recent major losses suffered by tobacco growers in Rmaish, in the south of the country, according to a story in The Daily Star.
The story described the current season as virus-ridden and said that it was threatening growers’ primary source of income.
The Lebanese Higher Relief Committee, which distributes funds during emergencies, is due to conduct a study following ‘damage to tobacco seedlings by viruses caused by climate change, and material losses to farmers,’ according to a statement released by Hariri’s press office.
The statement did not provide details of the extent of the losses incurred.
Tobacco is a main source of income for thousands of families in south Lebanon, where the soil type makes it difficult to plant other types of crops. [Wikipedia quotes one source as saying that the word Rmaish – also rendered as Rmeish and Rmiesh – translates into English as ‘scanty herbage’.]
The state-run National News Agency reported that the survey was projected to start during the middle of next week.