19th National Olive Festival starts in Jordan

19th National Olive Festival starts in Jordan - November 2018

The 19th National Olive Festival was launched on Wednesday 28 November 2018, which enables farmers to showcase their olives and other rural products.

It is an annual four-day festival at Al Hussein Park, organized by the National Centre for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE). NCARE aims to provide small farmers with a platform to sell their olives. Last year’s festival received 125,000 visitors.

Olive trees cover 72% of the agricultural land in Jordan, according to the Department of Statistics. Approximately 10.5 million olive trees are planted, most of which are located in the northern region of the country. Jordan is also ranked 8th internationally in the production of olive oil. It also creates jobs for 80,000 Jordanian families.

Over the last five years, olive production was estimated at 150 million tonnes, 20% of which were picked and 80% were sent to olive oil extraction plants. There are 132 olive oil extraction plants in Jordan, including 281 production lines, with an estimated production capacity of 436 tonnes per hour.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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