Olive harvest expected to increase by 40 per cent — ministry

AMMAN — Olive trees are expected to bear heavier crop this year, with harvest expected to increase by 40 per cent compared with 2016, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

An estimated amount of 252,000 tonnes of olive fruits are expected to be picked this season, Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat said in a statement on Sunday.

Some 201,000 tonnes of olives will be pressed to produce 36,000 tonnes of olive oil, while an estimated amount of 50,000 tonnes of olive fruits to be pickled, Hneifat said in the statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

Last year, 180,000 tonnes of olives were picked during the harvest season, while 26,000 tonnes of olive oil were produced and 36,000 tonnes of olives pickled.

Ministry’s spokesperson Nimer Haddadin said that olive trees this year are bearing more fruits than the previous season.

“It is known that, when olive trees produce a heavy crop on one year, it produces fewer flowers on the next year,” Haddadin told The Jordan Times.

Olive presses across the Kingdom are scheduled to start their work on October 10, according to the ministry, which said that most farmers are finishing up olive harvesting.

A total of 125 olive oil presses are spread across the country, especially in the central and northern regions, with an investment volume exceeding JD200 million.

With more than 20 million trees across the Kingdom, Jordan is among the top 10 olive producing countries in the world. Olive trees occupy 130,000 hectares of the country’s total terrain, and constitute 71 per cent of the total area planted with fruit trees.

Official figures indicate that more than 80,000 families are directly involved in olive farming in Jordan and that olive production generates approximately $145 million in annual income for these families.

Olives are one of the most important crops in arid regions, as well as date palms, according to the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas.