Arooj Zulfiqar

Farmers can substantially increase olive production by handling orchards according to latest management practices. Climate in Pakistan is perfect for olive farming, and expanding the area under cultivation can reduce Pakistan's reliance on oil imports and strengthen its foreign exchange reserves. Currently, a significant portion of the hard-earned reserves is consumed by imports expense.

Talking to WealthPK, Muhammad Azeem Tariq, Project Manager working with the project “Olive Cultivation Promotion on Commercial Scale in Pakistan”, said olive tree is a very special fruit tree due to its versatile characteristics.

“It is environment friendly and drought tolerant. It is a good consumer of CO2 with exceptionally long productive age, good adaptability on marginal lands, and great potential of producing premium quality edible oil,” he said.

“Traditionally, Pakistan isn’t an olive-producing country, but the presence of wild olive subspecies at a large scale in different areas of the country indicates the suitability of climatic conditions for its cultivation,” he said.

Azeem said large-scale olive cultivation in the country will pave the way for reducing edible oil import, earning foreign exchange, ensuring safety of land, curbing environmental degradation, and generating employment and entrepreneurship,” he said.

“This activity will not only boost the revenue of the national economy, but also generate thousands of jobs, and help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Thus, all year-round, olive trees will help to clean and purify the air by absorbing toxins, increasing humidity, and producing oxygen,” he said.

Azeem said more than 4.9 million saplings of olive plants have been cultivated in Pakistan so far, so there is a dire need to create awareness about benefits of olive cultivation and follow recommended management practices for sustainable utilization of involved resources.

“If farmers adhere to established management practices, the main benefit will be that their plants will begin to bear fruit earlier, and those that are currently producing less fruit will increase their fruit production,” he said.

Last year, the government’s olive project organized 37 trainings or seminars across the country for all the stakeholders of the olive value chain. In addition to these training programs, several videos for farmers' aid are being created and will be released with all the information about the Olive Valley chain. These videos will include all necessary information one requires about olive orchard management, training, pruning, harvesting techniques, bottling, storage, value addition, nursery production, etc.

“We import edible oil worth almost $4 billion, which also includes the import of inferior quality oils,” Azeem pointed out.

The world's healthiest oil is olive, as olives are very high in Vitamin E and other powerful antioxidants. Olives are good for heart and may protect against osteoporosis, cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, etc.

“Pakistan has the potential to become self-sufficient in edible oil production by utilizing its suitable land for cultivation of olive trees. The country is making efforts to reduce dependence on foreign edible oils and become a new player in the olive oil world,” Azeem said.

He said increased olive production is also closely associated with economic development, as it has the potential to generate significant additional revenues.

Independent News Pakistan-Wealthpk