Al-Jouf olive complex provides seeds and training to farmers

The Kingdom has established an olive complex in Al-Jouf, with more than 30 of the world’s most important and popular varieties, to provide seeds and technical expertise to farmers in various parts of the country.
This provides support for farmers in olive-producing regions in the country. Olives are an important source of food and a good source of healthy fats.
These efforts are part of a larger project to develop the olive industry in the Kingdom currently being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Al-Hashimi Al-Mehri, a senior FAO technical expert in olive production, said that the project began in 2011 and would continue through 2016 to improve olive cultivation in the Kingdom and increase the acreage of high quality olive varieties that are also appropriate to the environment.
It also involves providing training and technical support to farmers on modern technologies and scientific farming operations, he said.
Al-Mehri said that the project has a budget of $3.5 million, financed by Saudi Arabia through a funding agreement signed between the agriculture ministry and the FAO.
He said the project would identify olives of commercial importance, train engineers and technicians on how to maintain olive production fields, operate pest control systems, educate farmers on modern planting techniques, and introduce advanced technology for irrigation, fertilization and harvesting.
Al-Mehri said a pilot unit for olive oil extraction and quality control was also established under the project with modern equipment. An olive compressor unit has been set up to enable technicians to carry out research on modern techniques.
Al-Mehri said the project would increase olive production by providing consultancy services suitable to different climates across the Kingdom. Services include the use of mechanization in harvesting, appropriate pruning techniques and identifying water needs.
The technical cooperation between the ministry and the FAO began in 1950, with experts sent to the Kingdom in 1952 to study irrigation in Wadi Jazan. They also inked an agreement for agricultural training in Riyadh, research in Qatif and veterinary training in Hofuf.