Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, chaired a meeting with the Olive Culture Project team, led by Project Head Dr. Muhammad Tariq, to review progress and implementation of the project in line with the government’s vision for developing a comprehensive National Olive Value Chain.
The Federal Minister emphasized that olive development must go beyond plantation and establish an integrated value chain covering production, extraction, processing, storage, packaging, quality assurance and marketing, with farmers remaining the principal beneficiaries.
The meeting was informed that the revised project envisages plantation over approximately 15,000 acres and 2 million olive plants over three years. The Minister directed the project team to develop realistic cluster-wise targets and explore possibilities for further increasing plantation and plant availability.
Rana Tanveer Hussain stressed the need to fully utilize the olive potential of Potohar and directed the team to examine its appropriate inclusion in the project. He also called for greater private-sector participation in developing processing infrastructure and value addition.
The Minister directed that olive clusters should have appropriate access to extraction and post-harvest facilities and that quality standards, proper storage and testing mechanisms should be strengthened. He also called for exploring the commercial utilization of olive by-products, including pomace.
The Federal Minister further directed the project team to rationalize machinery requirements and costs and prepare a clear implementation plan with measurable targets and outcomes.
Rana Tanveer Hussain reiterated that the olive programme should serve as a practical foundation for the National Olive Value Chain, transforming Pakistan’s growing olive potential into increased farmer incomes, value addition, quality products and a sustainable olive industry.
