Life is no bowl of cherries in Idlib's groves
Constant shelling by regime forces has disrupted Idlib's centuries-old tradition of cultivating cherry groves.
It's cherry-picking season in Jabal al-Zawiya, in the southern Idlib countryside, but grove owners can take no joy in it, because the area has been under heavy air and ground attack by Russian-backed Syrian government forces since early May.
Grove owners are not only being hit hard by the military strikes, which are reducing their ability to harvest their produce, but they also face marketing difficulties, with overripe cherries and prices in a nosedive.
