PESHAWAR
The Agriculture Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would showcase olive samples in an upcoming exhibition at embassy of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to attract Saudi investors for investment in this sector in the province.
This was decided in a meeting held at KSA embassy by former governor KP Shah Farman and Secretary Agriculture KP Dr Muhammad Israr wherein commercial attache of KSA and other officials were briefed in detail about the production capacity of the province related to agriculture and especially saffron, olive and plum honey and opportunities for investors.
The Agriculture Secretary presented a short-term and long-term investment plan during the meeting.
On this occasion, Secretary Agriculture Dr. Muhammad Asrar while giving a detailed briefing on the agriculture sector told the participants that the provincial government is paying a lot of attention to agriculture and saffron was cultivated experimentally two years ago in different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Encouraging results have been obtained on the basis of which the provincial government has also approved a special plan for the development and promotion of saffron, he added.
He said that more than 100,000 acres of land in the province is suitable for saffron, if this land is brought under cultivation, saffron and its seeds can generate an annual income of 870 billion rupees in the economy.
He said that there is a good opportunity for KP to import saffron from Saudi Arabia at a lower price than other countries.
Regarding olives, the secretary of agriculture said that the climate of KP is suitable for this crop and about 80 per cent high quality oil can be obtained from it.
The provincial government is paying special attention to it, he said adding there are 70 million wild olives in the province which have been transformed by agronomists into high quality oil yielding varieties with excellent results and oil extraction. “If olive orchards are planted on suitable lands, an annual income of billions of rupees can be obtained and this oil can also be exported along with meeting the needs of the province.”
He said that oil extraction machines have also been installed for the convenience of the landowners.
Regarding honey, the Secretary of Agriculture said that the production of honey in the province is 12,000 tons, out of which 6000 tons of plum honey is produced, of which 2000 tons are exported including 70 percent to Saudi Arabia and the rest to the Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Dubai, Japan and other countries.
He suggested that If investment is made in honey production, then 12000 tons of production can be increased in three to four years.
DG Agriculture Extension Jan Muhammad, DG Agriculture Research Abdul Bari, DG Agriculture Extension Merged Districts Murad Ali, agricultural experts Ahmed Syed, Muhammad Younis and Aqeel Shah also participated in the meeting.
