Rawalpindi
Barani Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) is making all out efforts to enhance olive cultivation considerably in Potohar region for which the institute has provided over 1.2 million olive saplings to the farmers in the region which was declared an ‘Olive Valley’.
According to Director BARI, Muhammad Rafique Doggar, the olive saplings were provided free of cost to the eligible farmers of the region including Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jhelum, Attock and Khurshab districts.
The programme was launched for promoting local production of olive and curtailing import bill of edible oil sector, he said adding that the growers are offered subsidy in accordance with the set rules and procedure and they are bound to fully comply with the recommendations of the Provincial Agriculture Department.
He said for the purpose the Punjab Agriculture Department had imported high quality saplings from best-recognized countries for the production of olive.
The eligibility criteria for the grant of free olive saplings extend to those farmers belonging to the region, who possess sufficient irrigation resources for the maintenance of an olive orchard, or who aspire to avail the 70 per cent subsidy available, to manage irrigation resources.
If the grower opts to establish a drip irrigation system, then the applicant shall be eligible to avail a 60 per cent subsidy. The area of Potohar region has suitable climatic conditions for olive cultivation as presence of wild olives at large area was already in the region.
That’s why the government decided to turn Potohar into olive valley, he added. He further elaborated that olive is an environmental friendly plant and it does not take the area of other crops.
An olive tree starts production after three to four years of its plantation while its productive age lasts for a long period, revealed the Director. If we only utilize one third of our available area for olive cultivation, we would not only stop the import of edible oil rather but could become one of the largest olive oil producers, he said.—APP