[Pakistan] PAARC, NIGAB sign MoU to promote Olive cultivation
Pakistan spends a fortune importing edible oil. For years it has been trying to change that with an ambitious bet: turn its dry, marginal hill country into olive groves. It is a serious, patient project — and a window into how a new olive nation is built from scratch.
Pakistan imports the great majority of its edible oil, a bill that runs into billions and weighs heavily on the national accounts. The olive is one answer the country keeps returning to. Backed by government research bodies and international partners, a run of state projects has grafted wild olives, distributed millions of young trees, and pushed cultivation across the Pothohar plateau near Rawalpindi and into parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The ambition is large; the timeline, as always with the olive, is long.
Why the climate actually fits
This is not a fantasy crop for Pakistan. Large stretches of the north and west have exactly what the olive wants: hot dry summers, cool but not brutal winters, and poor, well-drained hillside soil that would defeat thirstier crops. Crucially, wild olive already grows in these hills, which tells you the tree belongs. Much of the effort has gone into grafting cultivated varieties onto established wild rootstock — a clever shortcut that borrows a mature root system and skips years of growth.
The economic logic
The appeal is national self-reliance. Every tonne of home-grown olive oil is a tonne not imported, and olives can be productively grown on marginal land that is little use for grain — turning idle hillsides into an export-capable crop rather than displacing food fields. Get it right and the payoff is double: a smaller import bill and a new rural income in some of the country’s poorer districts. That is why the project is framed as economic development, not just agriculture.
| What Pakistan has | What it still needs |
|---|---|
| Suitable climate and land | Time for trees to mature |
| Wild olive to graft onto | Skilled pruning and pest control |
| Government backing | Modern mills near the groves |
| Strong economic motive | Reliable water in dry years |
| Millions of young trees | A domestic taste for local oil |
Why it is slow — and what could go wrong
Enthusiasm plants trees; patience makes oil. An olive takes years to bear meaningfully and longer to repay its planting, so a scheme measured in political terms can lose momentum before the groves mature. The real tests come after planting: skilled pruning, pest management, and above all milling — oil quality is made or lost in the hours between picking and pressing, so mills must sit close to the groves. Water in drought years, and building a home market that actually wants local oil, matter just as much as getting the trees in the ground. None of it is a reason for doubt; all of it is a reason for realism about the timescale.
- Pakistan’s dry hill country genuinely suits olives — wild olive already grows there.
- Grafting onto wild rootstock is a smart shortcut past years of tree growth.
- The prize is a smaller edible-oil import bill and income on otherwise marginal land.
- The hard part comes after planting: pruning, pests, water and mills close to the groves.
Olive cultivation in Pakistan: common questions
Why is Pakistan planting olive trees?
To cut its very large edible-oil import bill and to create rural income on dry, marginal land that suits olives but little else.
Does Pakistan’s climate suit olives?
Yes, in much of the north and west. Hot dry summers, mild winters and poor well-drained soil suit the tree, and wild olive already grows in these hills.
What is grafting onto wild olive?
Attaching cultivated olive varieties onto established wild rootstock, which borrows a mature root system and skips years of growth — a common shortcut in Pakistan’s programme.
Why does building an olive industry take so long?
Olive trees take years to bear well and longer to repay planting. Quality also depends on skilled milling near the groves, which takes time and investment to build.
Can Pakistan become self-sufficient in olive oil?
It is a long-term aim rather than a quick outcome. The land and climate help, but mature groves, mills, water security and a home market all have to come together first.
What I like about the Pakistan story is that the tree genuinely belongs there — wild olive in the hills is the tell, and grafting onto it is the clever move. What I’d watch is the unglamorous end : an olive is only as good as the hours between picking and pressing, so without mills close to the groves you get trees but not fine oil. Planting is the easy, photogenic part. Pruning, pests, water and milling are where a new olive nation is actually made — and that is measured in decades, not budgets.
An evergreen explainer on Pakistan’s olive-cultivation drive and the economics behind it.