EXPLORING THE STATE OF ANNONA (ANNONA SP.) CULTIVATION IN LEBANONTHROUGH A SURVEY TARGETING LOCAL NURSERIES ANDFARMERS

摘要

Annona cultivation is gaining momentum in Lebanon because of the increased local and international demand for this produce, and also for the high revenues underlying such business. In order to explore the state of annona in Lebanon, 2 surveys were conducted in 2016 targeting 69 nurseries producing annona plants and 96 farmers cultivating annona. Results showed that in Lebanon, annona cultivation started in the year 1989, it increased in 1997 and peaked in 2 distinct periods: 2004 and 2012. The majority of farmers cultivating annona (94%) had an age higher than 40 years. Nowadays, the total cultivated area is of 133.21 Ha with the cultivar (sugar apple scion grafted on cherimoya rootstock) covering 88.6%. This cultivar was the most adapted to local climatic and soil conditions, it could be found at different ages (2-3 years). It was mainly found in sandy-loam (51%) and sandy-clay- loamy (29%) soils. Annona orchards were mainly located in South-Lebanon (60%) and less in Chouf (15%) and Byblos (11%), 71% of those orchards had an area less than 60 dunoms. Nurseries started to import annona plants 5 years ago. The short shelf-life of the fruit, difficult post-harvest management and decreasing selling price of annona have pushed a group of farmers towards other crops such as avocado, however half of respondents declared their willingness to expand the area of annona cultivation in the coming years. In conclusion, despite some constraints facing this type of cultivation it is a promising one having future potential.