KHYBER: The agriculture department has started grafting olive trees in different parts of Tirah, Bara and Jamrud to help improve the financial status of local communities, officials said.

They said the department had already reached the halfway mark, having grafted 108,000 olive plants out of the total target of 200,000, by grafting wild olive trees in the localities of lower Tirah, Nari Baba, Bazaar-Zakhakhel, Kalakhel, Thora Waila, and Lala Cheena. They said the initiative would also generate employment opportunities for the local youth.

The officials told Dawn that they had selected the grafting sites that were more feasible in terms of proximity to the main road and easy access to local communities, with special focus on the wild olive forest, where there was no tribal dispute over ownership rights.

“Willingness of the local community is essential for the success of the grafting campaign, and their assent is vital for successful results of converting wild olive into a fruit-bearing tree,” they insisted.

Officials say over 100,000 trees already grafted in different areas

Officials, however, conceded insufficient resources and added that the department was also imparting necessary training to local farmers on grafting, harvesting and extracting olive oil from the produce to overcome resource constraints.

Khyber agriculture officer Abid Shah told Dawn that his department’s focus was on grafting three types of olive stems, including arbequina and arbosana for oil extraction and coratina (Bari Zaitoon) for both oil extraction and making pickles.

He said that they had so far mostly grafted plants for the extraction of oil, as it could provide more benefits to the local community, while the department had already installed an olive oil extraction machine in Bara for the purpose.

He said that, alongside grafting, local farmers were being trained to convert olive leaves into tea leaves (zaitoon qehwa) and make olive pickles. “We have a plan to train farmers about olive harvesting and oil extraction to help lessen the burden on the agriculture department.”

He said previous experiments in olive grafting had proved very successful, as the grafted trees had started bearing quality olives, much to the satisfaction of the department and the benefit of the local communities.

Mr Shah said his department expected a bumper olive crop from the 200,000 grafted trees in three or four years, which would not only change the destiny of the terrorist-hit residents, but would also enable them to export their produce to foreign countries.

“We now aim to take Khyber district to the level of exporting olive oil, pickles and zaitoon tea,” he added.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2026