Tobacco.org

• Lebanon war claims tobacco crop as well, farmers say 

Their villages have been bombed and relatives killed. In addition, the farmers of south Lebanon say war with Israel has cost them the tobacco crop that is their livelihood.

Across the south, green fields have gone untended since Israel's war with Hizbollah erupted on July 12. Although most fighting ended last week, farmers say the crop is spoiled because it has been left unpicked for too long.

"A war of one month has ruined the crop of one year," said Sameh Shalhoub, who farms tobacco around the village of Qana, where an Israeli attack killed 27 civilians.

Tobacco farming supports 14,000 families, or around 100,000 people, in the rural south, an official from the state's tobacco authority said.

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