Caretaker Agriculture Minister Abbas Mortada launched on Saturday the works of a mountain lake project in the southern village of Rachaya Al-Foukhar, the National News Agency reported.
The project, funded by the OPEC Fund for International Development, covers an area of 4,000 square meters.
The lake will have a capacity of 17,000 cubic meters of water with a depth of 7 meters to irrigate 37 hectares of land planted with olives, fruits, and vegetables.
During the project’s opening ceremony, Mortada stressed the urgent need “to strengthen and preserve our society, especially at the border fringes in those patient, resistant villages, in accordance with the directives of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.”
He stated that the agriculture sector is almost the only steadfast productive sector in Lebanon amidst the country’s exceptional circumstances, “but it always needs a vision, strategy, and follow-up from the ministry and farmers through plans and studies for development.”
He also explained that in 2020, Lebanon was able to achieve a growth of 21% and that the area of cultivated land increased by 6,000 dunams in the same year.
“In the year 2021, and through the support of some international institutions and organizations, we expect that the area of cultivated land will increase to 10,000 dunams,” Mortada said.
The official then called on small and medium farmers to “head to the green project to obtain the required support and care for this profitable investment sector.”
