Soil exhaustion, due to over-use and insufficient use of fertilizers, is also a problem. Syria manages to produce a wide variety of crops, nonetheless, both for domestic use and for export. Cotton was the major export crop until the oil boom in the mid-1970s and once accounted for more than half the country's export revenues. Wheat and barley are also important crops. Others include olives, tobacco, citrus fruits, vegetables and sugar beet.
Livestock mainly consists of sheep and goats, which are herded in the mountain areas.
The best farmland is to be found in the coastal region and in the river valleys.