25 Nov

Lebanon, Sidon’s Khan al-Franj puts spotlight on olives

By Mohammed Zaatari, Sidon’s renowned Khan al-Franj souk hosted an Olive Day over the weekend, during which farmers from several southern communities gathered to learn about ways to plant olive trees and extract oil, while displaying several items related to the fruit. The event was part of the weekly Souk al-Ared (Land Market) activity organized […]

15 Nov

PA Squeezes Out Millions of Dollars from Olive Harvest

By Hana Levi Julian, Tens of thousands of acres in Judea and Samaria are blanketed with olive groves that now are bare of their fruit as one of the most successful harvest seasons in history draws to a close. Palestinian Authority Arab farmers earned estimated revenues of more than $140 million from this year’s olive […]

13 Nov

Saudi Arabia: Al-Jouf to have an olive city

Following the success of last year’s Olive Festival, an olive city named Al-Zaytoun will be built in Al-Jouf, said Muhammad bin Al-Nasser, the city’s mayor. “A large plot with all basic amenities will be designated for the city,” Al-Nasser said, adding that he expects the city to help attract investors in olive and olive oil […]

12 Nov

Pakistan on long road to olive farming

By Bronwyn Curran, In the dry hills of Pakistan’s violence-racked frontier with Afghanistan, an olive branch is being extended from Italy to tribesmen under fire from both US drones and Taliban fighters. Rome is in the early throes of an ambitious project to convert Pakistan’s barren wild olive groves into fruit-bearers, establish new olive plantations […]

15 Oct

Lebanese Southern farmers flock to olive groves as harvest season kicks off

By Mohammed Zaatari, With the start of the autumn olive-picking season in Lebanon, farmers in the South flocked to their olive groves Monday in order to gather the fruit and ensure provisions for the upcoming year. In the village of Tanbourit near Sidon, Umm Abdo Sawma expressed satisfaction over this year’s crop. “We have a […]