BAJAUR: Together with abundance of minerals, gemstones reservoirs and scenic natural beauty, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s seven tribal districts, especially Bajaur and Waziristan, are most suited for olive farming due to their compatible soil, climate condition and ecological diversity.

After becoming aware of the potential of their fertile land, the hardworking tribal people’s response to this profitable olive farming business has turned Bajaur green.

Thousands of olive trees planted in plains and mountains of seven tehsils of Bajaur district on Mohmand-Bajaur Road as well as lush green olive valleys of Talash in Lower Dir catch the attention of visitors once they pass through these areas.

From Barang to Khar and Nawagai to Chamarkand tehsils of Bajaur, the locals with active support of KP agriculture and forest departments have planted olive trees in abundance whose yields are contributing greatly to their development.

Govt patronage to help country become self-sufficient in edible oil

Sharifullah Bacha, 64, a progressive farmer from Salarzai tehsil, has hired extra labourers to plant the available olive stock on his eight-acre land during monsoon season.

“I have planted 5,000 olive plants in the spring season this year and will plant another 5,000 saplings during the current monsoon plantation drive,” he said.

Hoping for monsoon rains in the mountainous region for his new plants, he said the supply of ample water for those plants was imperative as without it, he would suffer losses.

Agriculture Extension Bajaur director Ziaul Islam Dawar said under the KP government’s Olive Promotion Project, grafting was carried out in over 250,000 wild olive trees, while olive orchards on 150 acres were successfully raised in the district.

Ahmad Said, former head of the Promotion of Olive Trees Cultivation on Commercial Scale Khyber Pakhtunkhwa project, said the Malakand division, including Bajaur and Dir districts, tribal districts South Waziristan, Orakzai and Khyber tribal districts were most suited for olive cultivation.

He said around 4.4 million hectares of land in KP, Punjab, Balochistan and erstwhile Fata were suited for olive cultivation.

Mr Ahmad said Spain produced 45 per cent of the total world’s edible oil on 2.6 million hectares, while Pakistan, despite having a vast suitable area of 4.4 million hectares for olive farming, was importing around 75 per cent edible oil to cater to its domestic needs.

He said the first olive promotional project funded by the Italian government was launched on June 1, 2012, under which olive was cultivated over 1,500 hectares of land.

“Later, this project worth Rs 3.82 billion was handed over to the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council due to the devolution of the Pakistan Oil Development Board on February 12, 2012. It was completed on June 30, 2015,” he said.

The former project head said the federal government in order to benefit from the good work of the Italian-funded project launched the Promotion of Olive Trees Cultivation on Commercial Scale project worth Rs2.3 billion in 2015.

He added that under the project, about 6.5 million wild olive plants were naturally raised in thickly olive-covered mountains and plains areas through enclosures in Bajaur, Dir, Waziristan, Nowshera and other districts besides Potohar region of Rawalpindi, and Balochistan.

Mr Ahmad said around 70 million wild olive trees were identified in KP, including 11 million in Bajaur district.

He said in addition to the completion of grafting in 400,000 wild olive trees, olive saplings were planted over 400 acres across Bajaur by farmers that had already started giving fruit.

“It requires five years for an olive tree to produce fruits. Normally, one kilogramme of olive fruit produces 200-milliliter oil and from 100 kilogrammes a farmer can get 17-20 litres easily, while one litre extra virgin olive oil is sold at about Rs2,200-Rs2,500 per litre,” he said.

The former project head said one tree could give a farmer Rs15,400 to Rs20,000 income per year and that olive fruits could be sold for Rs120 per kilogrammes easily in the local market.

He said the exotic olive plants mostly imported from Spain, Italy, Tunisia, Malaysia, Morocco, and Turkey were relatively costlier than indigenous wild olive and that efforts were being made to increase production of indigenous plants through grafting in wild olives trees to encourage farmers to go for commercial olive farming.

“Around 1.3 million olive plants and orchards on 14,000-acre land will be raised in Bajaur, Dir, South Waziristan and other potential districts of KP by 2027. Similarly, under the POTCCS project, 50,000 acres of additional land would be brought under olive cover in the country,” he said.

Mr Ahmad said olive cultivation on over 25,000 acres had already been completed under the project with major share from Lower Dir, Bajaur and Potohar region of Punjab.

He said oil extracting machines in Bajaur and Dir districts were chemical-free and that Pakistan’s olive oil had great international demand due to its purity and better quality.

Dr Mohammad Naeem, a professor of economics at the Swabi University, said Pakistan had been billions of rupees on imports of edible oil, including soybean, palm oil, sunflowers and other related commodities since 1970 despite 4.4 million hectares of land suitable for olive plantation.

He said around 3,000 tons of olive oil worth Rs1.241 billion had been imported during 2017-18.

“Pakistan is spending about $4 billion annually on the import of edible oil. The country’s annual requirement of edible oil is around five million tons with 16 kilogrammes per capita edible use. In 2006, our edible oil import bill was just $615 million but it reached a record $3.8 billion in 2022 with the country currently producing six metric tons only,” he said.

Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, deputy project director at the 10 billion tree plantation project, said out of 70 million wild olive tree plants discovered in KP, 40 million would be grafted in the next five years with the support of the agriculture department.

He said 25,000 olive trees were planted in the Azakhel area of Nowshera district in the last two years.

The experts said olive farming in Bajaur had great potential and the government’s constant patronage would help increase farmers’ income and alleviate poverty, besides proving a harbinger of making Pakistan self-sufficient in edible oil.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2023