Ministry to plant 30 million olive trees

 

By Asmaa al-Khalidi

 

Azzaman, 2004-12-16

 

There should be 30 million more olive trees in the country in 2014, Minister of Agriculture Sawsan Sherif has announced.

 

If the ministry’s olive tree program succeeds, Iraq will turn into a major olive oil producer in the Middle East.

 

The program, once completed, will perhaps be the greatest success story for the post-Saddam agricultural development as it boosts the number of olive trees in the country from one million to 31.

 

Currently, olive groves are mainly available in the northern parts of the country, particularly in Mosul.

 

But Sherif said she wanted to see olive groves dotting the whole of Iraq in about 15 years.

 

To lure farmers to plant more olive trees, the ministry is subsidizing the cost. The price of a sibling is 150 dinars in Baghdad (one U.S. dollar buys 1,500 dinars).

 

Jordan, a major olive oil producer, has donated 1.25 million siblings to Iraq, Sherif said.

 

Though endowed with two of the world’s largest rivers – the Euphrates and Tigris - Iraq is a net importer of food, particularly vegetable oils.