TIMERGARA, Dec 9: Olive farmers on Friday complained that despite abundant fruit production they had been unable to get oil as no extraction unit existed in the area.

Talking to journalists at the Timergara Press Club, farmers Mohammad Israr and Abdul Hadi from Talash, Nasir Khan and Sikandar from Humdak Maidan, Sifarish Khan from Bishgram Maidan and Bahadar Khan said that more than 100,000 wild olive plants had been grafted that produced tons of olive fruit every year.

“There has been no factory or extraction unit in the area and we have to take our products to Tarnab Farm Peshawar for extraction,” the farmers said, adding as olive fruit ripened at intervals they lost a lot of fruit due to delay in its extraction.

“Though the olive production is increasing every year but the farmers do not get enough cash for it due to non-availability of extraction unit in the region,” said Mr Israr.

He said a month ago he took some 500 kilogram of olive fruit to Islamabad in order to sell it in the open market. “Unfortunately I returned disappointed as I had no marketing experience,” he said, adding 100kg of olive fruit could produce 25kg of oil.

“Olive oil is the best replacement of ghee and other cooking oil,” he said and added it could be promoted at a large scale if the government encouraged its farmers.

The farmers said olive plants were evergreen and had pleasant impact on natural environment. The grafting of these plants, they said had increased job opportunities in Lower Dir as dozens of farmers had started doing it.

They said they had contacted agricultural officers in the area time and again to facilitate them but to no avail.

They demanded of the government, high ups of the agriculture department and donor agencies to take notice of the situation and provide them extraction machines so that they could easily get oil from the fruit.