Rs1 billion olive tree plantation project launched
PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has launched a Rs1 billion project to plant olive trees in the province.
The project was initiated in June and will be completed by June 2018, a handout issued on Tuesday stated.
Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman visited Kohe Daman, Badabher, Mattani and Adenzai areas where he inaugurated and supervised the plantation of olive trees in these areas. While addressing journalists on the occasion, the minister said the new initiative will help generate revenue for the province, besides bringing large areas of barren land under cultivation.
Additionally, it will also provide farmers with an alternative crop which will help in bringing prosperity in backward areas, Farman added.
He maintained that under the current project, each tree will be able to produce a minimum of 30 kilogrammes of olives which will help in generating Rs15 billion of revenue each year.
However, he said the saplings were provided on two conditions. Firstly, the area under cultivation should have a proper and sustainable water supply and secondly the farmers should take responsibility of securing the plantation from animals and other hazards.
The minister went on to say that the project will also help curb the import of edible oil into Pakistan.
Farman said, “K-P is home to millions of wild olive trees, which bear no fruit and are thus extensively used for fuel,” the minister talked of the possibility of converting the wild trees into fruit-bearing ones to radically change the lives of locals and generate significant revenue for the country.
Meanwhile, project director Abdul Samad said the initiative will be launched on lands where major food crops could not be grown.
“Olive is a strong plant that needs little water and fertiliser and can be grown anywhere – even in mountainous areas.” He maintained, “Currently the area from Chitral to DI Khan has been chosen for plantation. Five million saplings will be sown in these areas and the project will be completed in two years’ time.”
Samad added farmers who have wild olive plantations will be identified and then they will be trained on how to make them productive. “We can help them by providing them with the necessary materials. However, the plan will be implemented after approval from the agriculture secretary.”
