Nangarhar olive factory produces 135,000 liters of oil last year

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): The Canal Company’s olive oil factory produced 135,500 liters of oil last year in eastern Nangarhar province, and has just begun bottling and delivering the oil to markets, officials said on Wednesday.

Five decades ago, Canal Department established olive groves on 3,100 hectares of land, but more than half of them were destroyed during the civil war, and now only 1,720 hectares of land remain. In 2014, about 1,300 tons of olive oil was harvested, 30 tons of which were used to make pickled olives and the rest to make olive oil.

Head of trade and marketing for Wadi Agricultural Emirates Company Eng. Nadiullah Niazi told Pajhwok Afghan News the production and processing of olive oil and pickles have been completed, but packing and bottling of oil has begun.

In 1403 solar year, 135,500 liters of olive oil was produced, which will be packaged and marketed in 500,000 bottles, he added.

According to him, they have launched efforts to market their products both inside and outside the country.

“We have exhibited Nangarhar olive products at industrial exhibitions in various provinces. We have also sent olive oil samples to China, Italy, and many other countries for foreign marketing. They have been tested in laboratories there and have been proven to be world-class quality oils”.

He explained oil produced in olive processing factory affiliated with this organization is of high quality, clean, and cheaper than other oils. Currently, it is easily available to residents in Nangarhar and Kabul, and this series will be extended to other provinces in the future.

The Nangarhar Olive Factory, which was built years ago during Mohammad Zahir Shah government to process olive groves, and about 500 people are employed there.

Atiqullah, a professional engineer who has worked in the olive processing sector for years, said that olive processing is carried out in several stages: the first stage is collecting the seeds from the orchards, the second stage is storing or evaporating the seeds, the third stage is extracting the oil from the seeds, and the last stage is packaging the oil in bottles.

The factory was built in 1984 with technical cooperation from the former Soviet Union to produce oil and pickles from Nangarhar olives, and this process is still ongoing.

hz/ma