By Syed Marwan Shah

ISLAMABAD, Aug 16 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan can earn $1 billion annually from the eight million wild olive trees in different provinces if they are grafted and converted into productive ones, according to researchers of the Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi.

Similarly, they told WealthPK that Pakistan can also earn $9 billion annually if olive cultivation is made on arable wastelands. The researchers further said olive potential in Pakistan could help drastically reduce the country's heavy import bill related to edible oil.

According to the Pakistan Business Council, the country imports edible oil worth $3.5 billion annually. A major chunk is taken up by palm oil, which suits the local culinary habits and has been difficult to indigenize.

As part of the government's strategy to reduce reliance on imports of edible oil and potentially increase exports, over 50 million olive trees will be planted on marginalised lands. In order to achieve this goal, the government has taken several measures, including providing subsidies to farmers, providing technical training and large quantities of free olive saplings to them.

According to a senior research officer of the Agriculture Research Institute at Tarnab Farm, Peshawar, Pakistan has great potential in olive cultivation, which can help generate better incomes for farmers. “Olive is a high-value agricultural product, which can also bring in much-needed foreign exchange if exported to global markets. Better economic realisation of olive farming is key to improving the socioeconomic conditions of farmers in Pakistan and help reduce poverty in the rural regions.”

The official said it has been successfully established through research that superior quality olives can be grown in some regions of Pakistan as climate and topography are particularly conducive to olive cultivation in Potohar region of the Punjab province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. “Currently, over 35,000 acres of land are under olive production in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab,” the senior research officer said.

A WealthPK research shows that Pakistan is well-positioned to become a major player in the olive oil industry provided it receives the needed assistance from other countries.

Due to cooperation in agriculture from Spain and Italy as well as commercial assistance from China, Pakistan began producing olive oil in 2010. It is estimated that its production capacity of olive oil will reach approximately 16,000 tonnes by the year 2027.

According to the research, there are four million hectares of land suitable for olive cultivation in Pakistan. Spain, which has around 2.5 million hectares of olive plantations, is the world's largest producer of olive oil. It captures almost 40% of the global market share for olive oil exports.

Pakistan imported approximately 4,000 tonnes of olive oil in 2020 against production of 1,000 tonnes locally. The country is expected to import 3.7 million tonnes of edible oil during the current fiscal year.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk