BEIRUT: Lebanon’s agricultural exports to Syria in the first four months  have surged for the first time in many years as the war-ravaged country is  trying to cope with dwindling production of wheat, vegetables and fruits.

The latest figures show Lebanese exports to its neighbor up to April of 2012  jumped by 17 percent, while imports from Syria in the same period fell by 19.5  percent.

Experts say the size of cultivated lands in Syria is diminishing gradually  because of the intense fighting and instability in some areas that are  considered the main agricultural producing centers, such as Idlib.

The harsh Western economic sanctions on Damascus have also further  exacerbated the situation as Syria finds it more difficult to import its goods  from most countries.

Antoine Hwayek, the president of the Farmers Association, told The Daily  Star that there was a growing demand for citrus in Syria this year but noticed  that Lebanon’s exports of bananas fell to 35,000 tons from 90,000 tons last  year.

“There was a significant demand for vegetables also, but I can’t say this  trend will continue for the rest of year. As a matter of fact the Lebanese  farmers still have abundant quantities of potatoes, tomatoes and other items and  prices on the local market fell sharply due to this abundance,” Hwayek said.

Syria was one of the main importers of vegetables to Lebanon and many  regional countries for many years, but this year Syrian farmers have incurred  heavy losses as fighting spread to rural areas which are extremely fertile.

Hwayek said Lebanese farmers were still exporting their agricultural produce  to other Arab states through Syria.

“Export by land through Syria did not stop despite the security risks. But  producers raised the prices of their products after paying hefty fees to  insurance companies. We have had no problems so far but I am not sure this will  continue if the situation deteriorates rapidly,” he stressed.

Lebanese exports up to April of this year reached $74 million compared to  $63.3 million during the same period of 2011.

Apart from agricultural produce, Syria imported heavy machinery, electricity  generators, chocolate, sugar, tissues and towels.

Official statistics showed that 255 trucks loaded with goods entered Syria,  nearly the same figure as during the corresponding period in 2011.

But the quantities loaded in these trucks seemed bigger, officials said.

Some merchants said demand for flour in Syria also rose in the first few  months of this year because the local production was not able to meet the Syrian  consumption.

The official figures may not tell the entire story as many merchants smuggle  Lebanese-made goods to avoid Lebanese and Syrian customs at some crossing  points.

However, merchants say Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Assad are  also patrolling the entire border with Lebanon to ensure that neither arms nor  illegal goods cross into Syria.

Hwayek says it would not be fair to assume Lebanon will benefit from the  Syrian crisis since Lebanese farmers are still facing many difficulties. “As I  said before, we still have large quantities of vegetables and fruits that did  not find their way to other markets. Prices of some vegetables are below the  cost of production because farmers can’t dump them in the fields.”