Pakistan’s domestic Olive Oil Production is expected to reach 716 tons this year, according to a government survey seen by ProPakistani

The work to promote Olive trees and their products in Pakistan has been happening at some level since 1986, when the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council began working with the Italian government to introduce Olives in the country and develop best cultivation practices, and then in the early 2000s, researchers began working on Wild Olive species to turn them into fruit-bearing varieties.

The five-year project following the debt swap agreement with Italy in 2006 to bundle olive cultivation with economic development of rural areas was moved under PARC after devolution of PODB and was completed in 2012, and later years saw multiple projects to scale the commercial cultivation of Olives in Pakistan.

From Research to 7.6 Million Olive Plants

These include everything from importing, distributing, and planting millions of saplings to oil extraction equipment, both under government research institutions like the Center of Excellence for Olive Research & Training (CEFORT) and supporting private companies as well. Government has even distributed millions of saplings for free and offered an upward of 67% subsidy on plants and drip irrigation systems.

The policy targets expanding Pakistan’s total cultivated olive area to 100,000 acres and tree population to 10 million by 2030.

Ongoing projects fall under the National Olive Value Chain Policy 2024-2030, under which the Government has established the Pakistan Olive and Olive Oil Council (POOC) under the Pakistan Oilseed Board to bring together farmers, processors, and the government, and has also launched the national certification trademark ‘PakOlive’, with only Olive oils that follow the strict regulations and quality checks allowed to carry this label.

A government survey notes that 7.64 million olive plants have been planted across 60,456 acres in 131 districts nationwide. Balochistan accounts for the largest share, with 3.20 million plants (41.9%) spread across 24,620 acres in 31 districts.

Punjab follows with 2.24 million plants (29.3%) across 17,000 acres in 31 districts, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 1.66 million plants (21.7%) across 14,690 acres in 32 districts.

The survey also records 205,929 plants in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 117,958 in Islamabad Capital Territory, 92,296 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 129,384 in Sindh.

Source: ProPakistani