ISLAMABAD, Sept 28 (ABC): Pakistan has planted 7.637 million olive trees across 60,456 acres in 131 districts as part of efforts to promote olive cultivation on a commercial scale.
According to documents available with Wealth Pakistan, olive plantations have spread across Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Sindh, Islamabad Capital Territory and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Balochistan leads the national plantation drive with 3,199,393 olive plants over 24,620 acres in 31 districts. This gives it the largest plantation base among the regions covered by the data.
Punjab ranks second with 2,235,962 olive plants over 17,000 acres across 31 districts. Its plantation base has been developed through different initiatives, including PIDSA, PSDP, Olive Valley and private plantation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 1,656,499 olive plants over 14,690 acres across 32 districts. Its plantation base includes contributions from PIDSA, PSDP, the 5 Million Olive initiative and private plantation.
Olive cultivation expands across regions
The data also show 205,929 olive plants over 1,542 acres in AJK and 129,384 plants over 939 acres in Sindh. Meanwhile, ICT has 117,958 plants over 976 acres, while Gilgit-Baltistan has 92,296 plants over 690 acres.
Of the total plantation recorded during 2012-26, the PSDP component accounted for the largest share, with 5,029,010 plants over 37,854 acres.
Other contributions included 580,158 plants under PIDSA and 1,320,116 under the Olive Valley initiative. In addition, 590,000 plants were contributed under the 5 Million Olive programme and 80,637 under Olives Expansion, while private plantation accounted for 37,500 plants.
The document identifies Pakistan’s potential olive-growing area at approximately four million hectares. It also points to the presence of millions of wild olive plants.
Processing infrastructure develops alongside plantations
Alongside plantation expansion, 51 olive oil extraction units have been installed across the country, providing processing capacity for the growing sector.
Of these, 23 extraction units are located in Balochistan, 16 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and nine in Punjab. Islamabad has two units, while Azad Jammu and Kashmir has one.
The document also lists supporting infrastructure for the olive sector. This includes three value-addition laboratories, six fruit-processing units, five weather stations and five nursery tunnels.
Moreover, four national reference laboratories are located at Islamabad, Chakwal, Tarnab and Quetta.
The figures show that Pakistan’s olive development programme has expanded beyond plantation to include processing, laboratory, nursery and other supporting facilities. These developments form part of the broader effort to promote olive cultivation on a commercial scale.
