NOWSHERA: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that plantation of olive trees will not only be part of the solution in solving climate change but increase the exports thereby resolving the crucial balance of trade issue.
He said that large-scale cultivation of the fruit will prove to be the best investment for the country in terms of earning foreign exchange and ensuring food security.
Addressing a gathering after the launch of a countrywide olive cultivation drive starting from the Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the prime minister said that the country possessed immense potential required for the cultivation of olive trees owing to suitable topography and climate from north to south.
He mentioned that dry localities such as the Sulaiman Mountains near Waziristan, Balochistan’s plains and Punjab’s diverse terrain offered a suitable environment for low-irrigation olive farming.
Terming food security a big challenge for the country, he said the olive fruit produced edible oil of high nutritional value, which could also be used to meet local demands besides its export.
He said that Pakistan had more potential than Spain, one of the leading olive oil producers, and could explore the possibilities with an effective strategy of olive cultivation.
He also said that the country was blessed with 12 climatic zones and a diverse landscape and stressed the need to promote planting a variety of crops and fruit.
Imran said that olive was also mentioned in the Holy Quran several times that enhanced the relevance and significance of the “wonder fruit”.
He said that the cultivation project would generate employment opportunities for the locals, both short and long-term, due to the long life of the plant.
The prime minister said that olive cultivation was being carried out under the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami initiative, adding that plantation of other local fruits would be also be included in the programme.
He said that Pakistan was among the 10 most vulnerable countries on the verge of attracting adverse effects of climate change.
He also said that to save future generations from climate change, the plantation was the key step and also to reduce rising pollution levels in metropolitan cities of the country.
He mentioned the recently launched Miyawaki technique plantation drives at several sites in Lahore and Islamabad with an objective to get dense greenery at a faster than usual pace.
He asked the head of the Forest Department to use a similar plantation method in Peshawar as well as the city touched alarming levels of pollution.
He also lauded the efforts of KP Governor Shah Farman for materialising the billion tree project across the province.
Prior to his address, the premier planted a sapling of olive at the model plantation site of Amangarh in the city, where the cultivation of around 7,200 olive plants will be carried out.
He visited the cultivation area, where he was given a briefing about the potential of olive plantation on the occasion. Farman, Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Minister for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam and senior officials were present.
According to official details, the expected economic return of four million grafted olive plants in the sixth year will be about Rs10.8 billion per annum with a total income of Rs54 billion after a decade. The olive oil production in the sixth year will be approximately 7.2 million litres with average fruit production per plant at 15 kg.
