'Olive farming can cut $4b oil import bill'

Experts highlight crop's potential to diversify agriculture

FAISALABAD:

Experts have called for expanding olive cultivation in Pakistan to reduce the country's edible oil import bill, improve food and nutritional security and develop a high-value export industry.

Despite being an agrarian country with fertile land, Pakistan imports edible oil worth around $4 billion annually, experts said at an international workshop titled "Olive: Health Utility, Nutrition Value, and Sustainable Food Systems" at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) on Friday.

The workshop was organised by the university's Department of Physics in collaboration with the Olive Culture II Scale-Up project.

It featured Italian experts Dr Alessandro Leone of the University of Bari Aldo Moro and Dr Francesco De Musso of the Olive Culture Scale-Up project at CIHEAM Bari, along with Dr Muhammad Nouman, who is also associated with the project.

Speaking to the foreign delegates, UAF Vice-Chancellor Dr Zulfiqar Ali said Pakistan had launched its National Olive Value Chain Policy in collaboration with Italy, describing the expanding olive sector as a promising development for the country's agriculture.

He said olive cultivation could help strengthen nutritional security, diversify agricultural production and promote sustainable food systems. Strengthening research, improving farming practices and developing technical expertise would enable farmers to realise the crop's economic potential and build more resilient agricultural systems, he added.

Prof Leone said Italy's Puglia region was a major centre of olive cultivation, accounting for around 50% of the country's olive oil production.

Italy was among the world's leading olive oil producers, he said, adding that the sector played a significant role in the regional economy through traditional orchards, newly established plantations and high-density cultivation systems.

He said Pakistan could benefit from international experience in olive farming, particularly modern high-density orchard systems, to improve productivity and explore commercial opportunities.