Organic farming: 5 ways to avoid soil depletion in Lebanon

In Lebanon, soil depletion is not a distant environmental problem. It is already visible in the fields: crusted surfaces after rain, water running off instead of soaking in, shallow root systems, and plots that need more irrigation and fertiliser to produce the same crop. For farms supplying local markets or fresh-produce cooperatives, the consequences travel quickly from the field to the packing house. Lower soil organic carbon means less water storage, weaker structure, poorer nutrient cycling and less resilience when the season turns hot or unusually wet.

Cultivated Lebanese soils can contain less than 0.5% soil organic carbon, while uncultivated ground may reach roughly 1–2%. On exposed mountain slopes, water erosion can remove tens of tonnes of soil per hectare each year. Around 60% of Lebanon’s landmass is classified as degraded. These figures describe a national condition, but soil depletion is managed plot by plot.

The practical response is not one miraculous input. It is a sequence: return organic matter to the field, reduce disturbance, keep soil covered, slow water on slopes and stop asking the same crop family to carry the whole farm. For cooperatives, this is also a supply-chain decision. The soil is the first production asset behind every crate of potatoes, vegetables, fruit or herbs.

Soil organic carbon is the inventory that connects this harvest to the next one. If the inventory keeps falling, every other improvement becomes more expensive.

The crisis of Lebanese soil: understanding carbon loss and erosion

Lebanon’s agricultural geography makes soil management unusually unforgiving. The country combines steep terrain, shallow soils in many mountain areas and intense winter rainfall. On a bare or heavily tilled field, rainfall does not arrive as a gentle input. It breaks soil aggregates, seals the surface and carries loose particles downhill. Once the finest and most fertile particles leave the plot, rebuilding productivity becomes slower and more expensive.

The problem is amplified when several common practices occur together:

• repeated deep ploughing breaks aggregates and disrupts fungal networks;
• crop residues are removed or burned instead of returned to the soil;
• the same crop is planted repeatedly, leaving little time for biological recovery;
• slopes are cultivated without contour measures, terraces or a protective cover;
• fertiliser is used to compensate for weak nutrient cycling rather than alongside a plan to restore it.

Soil organic carbon is not the same thing as total fertility, but it is one of the clearest indicators of whether the soil can function as a living production system. Organic matter helps bind particles into aggregates, improves infiltration and gives microorganisms a source of energy. It also creates a buffer: a soil with better structure can absorb rainfall more effectively and hold moisture for longer between irrigations.

What to measure before changing the system

A cooperative does not need a complicated monitoring programme to begin. It does need a consistent one. Samples should be taken from comparable areas, at a similar depth and at the same point in the crop cycle. A single sample from a field with several soil types can hide the condition of the worst-performing section, so obvious differences in slope, texture, irrigation or cropping history should be recorded separately.

At minimum, the farm record should connect the soil result with:

• the plot and its slope position;
• the previous crops and residue treatment;
• compost or manure applications;
• tillage depth and number of passes;
• irrigation frequency and visible runoff;
• yield and quality at harvest.

The purpose is not to create paperwork for its own sake. It is to distinguish a nutrient problem from a structure problem, and a structure problem from an erosion problem. Adding fertiliser to a compacted, eroding soil may produce a short-term response, but it does not repair the production system.

The Bekaa makes this distinction especially important. Its concentration of potato production supports a strong logistics and export network, yet repeated potato cultivation places pressure on soil structure and disease management. A potato-heavy rotation can remain commercially attractive while quietly reducing the field’s ability to support the next cycle. The warning signs are familiar: slower infiltration, more irrigation demand, crusting after rain, harder seedbeds and declining uniformity across the plot.

Thermal composting: valorising organic waste to boost soil carbon

Compost is often discussed as if it were simply a fertiliser. On depleted farms, its more important role is structural. Mature compost adds stable organic matter, supports microbial activity and helps the soil retain water and nutrients. It also gives cooperatives a way to turn crop residues, prunings, manure and suitable organic waste into a productive input instead of paying to remove or replace them.

Thermal composting requires control rather than guesswork. The pile must contain a workable balance of carbon-rich and nitrogen-rich material. Dry stalks, straw, chipped prunings and other woody material supply carbon; manure, green residues and vegetable culls supply nitrogen and moisture. A mixture close to a 30:1 carbon-to-nitrogen ratio is a useful operating target, but the material itself matters more than a theoretical number. A pile made mostly of wet vegetable waste will compact and turn anaerobic. One made mostly of dry stalks will heat slowly or not at all.

Build a process that the cooperative can repeat

A cooperative composting operation should have a designated mixing area, a way to keep unwanted material out of the feedstock and a simple record for temperature, moisture and turning. During the active heating phase, the pile should be hot enough to support hygienic decomposition. Maintaining approximately 55–65°C for the required period is commonly used to reduce pathogens and weed seeds, but the temperature must be checked inside the pile rather than assumed from its appearance.

Moisture should be high enough for microbial activity but not so high that air is displaced. A squeezed handful that holds together and releases only a little moisture is a practical field test. If liquid runs out, the pile is too wet. If the material falls apart as dust, it is too dry.

Turning restores oxygen and redistributes wetter and drier zones. During active decomposition, turning every few days may be appropriate, depending on pile size and feedstock. Once the heat drops, the compost needs time to mature. Finished material should have a stable, earthy smell and no recognisable mass of fresh food waste. Immature compost can compete with crops for nitrogen or create unwanted heat in the root zone.

Lebanon already has examples of organisations and facilities working with composting and soil regeneration. Compost Baladi has operated as a social enterprise, while the Al Safir compost production facility in South Lebanon provides a commercial example of organic-waste processing. SOILS Permaculture Association – Lebanon has also worked on training and pilot activities related to soil regeneration. For a cooperative, these existing models are more useful than building a system in isolation. The feedstock, regulations, transport distance and labour arrangement will be local, but the basic process is transferable.

Apply compost where it solves a field problem

Compost is most valuable when its application is connected to a clear objective. A depleted vegetable plot may need organic matter incorporated near the surface. A sloping field may benefit from applications combined with reduced tillage and a cover crop. A compacted area may need physical remediation before compost can deliver its full benefit.

Annual applications in the range of 10–15 tonnes per hectare are often used as a substantial soil-building rate, but the correct amount depends on the maturity and analysis of the compost, the crop and the existing soil condition. More is not automatically better. Poorly finished compost, excessive nutrient loading or transport from a distant source can turn a circular system into an expensive one.

The first season should be treated as the beginning of a trend, not a promise of instant restoration. Record infiltration, surface crusting, irrigation intervals, root development and yield quality alongside soil carbon. A change that reduces runoff or improves workability may be valuable before the laboratory shows a major increase in carbon.

Reduced tillage: keeping soil in place

Reduced tillage is often presented as an equipment decision, but it is really a decision about what happens to the soil surface during the most vulnerable part of the year. Every deep inversion exposes protected organic matter, breaks continuous pores and leaves the field more exposed to rainfall. Repeated passes also create a hard layer below the tilled zone, particularly when machinery enters at the wrong moisture level.

Research and field trials in organic systems have reported sediment and water-erosion reductions of about 61% under reduced-tillage approaches compared with intensive tillage. The exact result will vary with slope, soil texture, rainfall, crop and residue cover. The central principle is stable: soil that is not repeatedly overturned is less likely to detach and move.

A practical transition does not require abandoning every implement immediately. It begins by reducing unnecessary passes and eliminating inversion where it does the most damage.

Change the pass, not just the label

A cooperative can review its tillage system in this order:

1. Map the vulnerable fields. Start with steep plots, areas that pond or channel water, and fields where soil is visibly carried into roads or drainage lines.

2. Reduce depth. Use shallow cultivation where the crop and residue conditions allow it. Deep work should have a specific purpose rather than being the default.

3. Avoid inversion. Replace routine mouldboard ploughing with equipment that loosens or mixes without turning the profile completely.

4. Keep residues on the surface. Stubble and chopped residues soften raindrop impact and slow water movement.

5. Control traffic. Repeated machinery movement over the same lanes can protect the rest of the field from unnecessary compaction.

6. Train operators. The outcome depends on timing, depth and soil moisture as much as on the implement itself.

Reduced tillage can create management challenges. Cooler or wetter seedbeds may slow early growth, residues can interfere with planting and poorly controlled weeds may become more difficult. These are reasons to combine the practice with rotation, cover crops and careful timing, not reasons to return automatically to deep ploughing.

For potato producers in the Bekaa, the transition needs particular planning. Potatoes disturb the soil during planting and harvest, and the field can be left exposed after lifting. A winter cover crop, retained residues where practical and a less aggressive primary pass can reduce the period in which the soil is unprotected. On rented land, the arrangement also matters. Soil-building benefits accumulate over several seasons, so a short lease can discourage investment unless the agreement recognises the value created for the field.

Reduced tillage works best when it is treated as a whole-season system. A shallow pass followed by bare soil is not soil conservation; it is only less disturbance for one afternoon.

Terracing and cover cropping: anchoring mountainous slopes

Terraces and cover crops solve different parts of the same problem. A terrace changes the speed and direction of water. A cover crop protects the soil surface and holds particles with roots. A terrace without vegetation can still fail under concentrated runoff; a cover crop on a steep, unmanaged slope cannot replace a functioning terrace.

In mountain agriculture, maintenance is as important as construction. Stone walls, risers and drainage outlets should be inspected before the winter rains. Small breaks are easier to repair than a failed terrace after a storm has concentrated water through one opening. Sediment accumulating in the wrong place, exposed roots, undercut edges and new channels are early signs that the system needs attention.

Contour-aligned cultivation can complement terraces by reducing the distance water travels downhill. The correct arrangement depends on the slope and existing structure, but the principle is straightforward: do not create uninterrupted lanes that direct rainfall into a single channel.

Cover the field before the autumn storms

The timing of cover crops is often more important than the sophistication of the seed mix. After harvest, the field should not remain bare longer than necessary. Sowing within a couple of weeks can be a useful target where moisture and equipment permit, especially before the main autumn rains.

A mixture of legumes and grasses can provide complementary functions:

• vetch or clover contribute nitrogen fixation and broadleaf root activity;
• oats and barley produce fibrous roots and surface biomass;
• mustard can add rapid cover and a strong rooting presence, although its place in the rotation must be considered carefully.

The best mix is not necessarily the one with the most species. It is the one that can establish under local conditions, fits the next cash crop and can be terminated without creating a new weed or disease problem. Seed availability, grazing pressure, water requirements and the timing of the following crop all belong in the decision.

Termination should happen before the cover crop becomes difficult to manage. Crimping or shallow mowing at the appropriate stage can leave a protective mulch. The residue should remain on the surface where it can reduce evaporation and soften the impact of rain. Allowing a cover crop to reach full seed without a plan can create volunteer plants in the next crop and complicate harvest.

On sloping land, the crop should reinforce the terrace rather than obscure its condition. A thick cover is not a substitute for checking a wall, clearing a blocked outlet or repairing a damaged riser. Soil protection is a living layer built on physical infrastructure.

Agroforestry and crop rotation: long-term resilience for the Bekaa Valley

Agroforestry is a longer investment than compost or a change in tillage. Trees occupy space, need water while establishing and can complicate machinery access if the layout is poor. They also provide functions that annual crops cannot: wind protection, deeper rooting, habitat, shade and an additional source of income.

The design must begin with the farm’s actual constraints. Tree rows should follow contours on slopes and be arranged to avoid creating new channels for runoff. On flatter ground, orientation and spacing should account for machinery, shade and the light requirements of the alley crop. Olive, fig, carob and almond are familiar Mediterranean options, but suitability depends on elevation, water availability, frost exposure, market demand and the rest of the farm plan.

A badly placed tree is not automatically an agroforestry system. If roots compete with vegetables, branches obstruct harvest machinery or irrigation is designed only for the annual crop, the planting will become a burden. The first rows may be most useful along boundaries, erosion-prone edges, wind-exposed sections or low-performing areas where an annual crop already struggles.

Prunings can return to the cooperative’s compost stream, provided woody material is chipped or managed appropriately. In that arrangement, the trees are not only a secondary crop. They become part of the farm’s nutrient and carbon cycle.

Rotation is the biological backbone

Crop rotation is the most direct way to stop a farm from repeating the same stress on the same soil. Different crops leave different residues, develop different root systems and host different pests and diseases. Legumes add another function by working with root bacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen.

A Bekaa rotation might move from potatoes to a legume such as fava beans, chickpeas or lentils, then to a cereal such as wheat or barley, with a cover crop used where the calendar and water supply allow. The precise sequence should be adjusted to market commitments, planting windows, disease pressure and available equipment. The important point is that the same crop family should not return to the same plot season after season without a biological break.

Legume residues should be managed deliberately. Removing everything from the field removes much of the benefit. Leaving residues on the surface, lightly incorporating them or using them as part of a compost system can return carbon and nutrients, but the method must be compatible with the next crop and local disease risks.

Seed inoculation with the appropriate Rhizobium strain can support effective nodulation in legumes, particularly where that crop has not been grown recently. It is a small operational detail, but it illustrates the larger rule: rotation is not simply a list of crops. It is a managed sequence with dates, residue decisions, seed preparation and an agreed use for every plot.

Make the five methods reinforce each other

These methods are strongest when they are planned as one system rather than purchased as five separate solutions.

A cooperative can begin with the fields where the return is clearest: steep plots with visible erosion, vegetable land that dries rapidly, or potato fields with declining structure. The first year should establish a baseline, secure a dependable compost source and reduce the most damaging tillage pass. The next season can add a cover crop and a more disciplined rotation. Trees belong in the long-term plan, especially on boundaries and areas where annual production is already marginal.

The sequence also protects the cooperative from overpromising. Compost will not repair a terrace failure. A cover crop will not compensate for repeated traffic on wet soil. A tree row will not replace rotation. Each practice has a job, and the farm becomes more resilient when those jobs overlap.

The work is measured between harvests

Organic farming in Lebanon cannot be reduced to replacing synthetic fertiliser with an organic product. Soil depletion is a physical, biological and logistical problem. It affects how water moves, how roots explore the field, how machinery operates and how reliably a cooperative can meet a buyer’s volume and quality requirements.

The most useful records are often simple: soil-carbon results, dates of tillage, compost quantities and maturity, cover-crop establishment, terrace repairs, irrigation intervals, runoff observations and yield by plot. Over time, those records show whether a practice is improving the field or merely adding another task.

For a cooperative, shared infrastructure can make the difference. A composting site, a common seed order, access to reduced-tillage equipment, coordinated terrace maintenance and a rotation calendar are easier to sustain collectively than farm by farm. Technical support from organisations already working in composting, permaculture and soil regeneration can shorten the learning curve, but the system still has to fit the cooperative’s own labour, land tenure and market schedule.

The commercial argument is as strong as the ecological one. Healthy soil reduces the risk that one dry period, intense storm or difficult planting window will push a crop outside the required quality range. It protects the production base behind fresh-produce exports. It also gives farms more options: a legume phase, a cover crop, an orchard edge or a compost operation can create value beyond the next harvest.

The central decision is therefore not whether Lebanese farms can afford to change. It is whether they can afford to keep losing the soil that makes production possible. Start with the most exposed fields, measure what is there, return organic matter, keep the surface covered and build a rotation that gives the soil time to recover. In Lebanon, soil restoration is not separate from agricultural continuity. It is the condition that allows the cooperative, and the crops it ships, to continue.