Officials from the Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock in Kandahar report that olive orchards have been established on 160 acres of land in the province.
According to them, approximately 20 to 25 tons of olive products are harvested annually from these orchards.
"Overall, we have about 160 acres of land under olive cultivation, producing 20 to 25 tons of crops annually,” said Shams-ur-Rahman Moosa, head of the agricultural division of the Kandahar Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock Department.
The harvested olives in Kandahar are sent to Nangarhar province for processing. Therefore, olive farmers in Kandahar are calling for the establishment of processing factories within the province.
"Olive orchards should be expanded, and a factory should be established so that young people can find jobs, and processing becomes easier. Currently, we face many challenges in this regard,” said Sayed Rasool, one of the farmers.
"Olives require less fertilizer and labor compared to other fruits and yield better crops,” said Hayatullah, another farmer.
Compared to other fruit-bearing trees, olives need less water and care, but they are economically very valuable.
"Olives are excellent plants because they produce a high yield and have lower costs. Here, most people use them for medicinal purposes,” said
Hassan Mubarak, an engineer at the international Afco company in Kandahar.
Available information indicates that the olives from Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces are of high quality for oil and pickles.
Additionally, olive leaves are used to produce a fine tea that has many fans both domestically and internationally.
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