Khaberni - The Directorate of Agriculture in Tafilah Governorate invited olive farmers, today Saturday, to delay the olive harvesting process until signs of optimal ripeness appear in at least 50% of the olives, in order to obtain a distinctive product and increase the percentage of olive oil.
The director of Tafilah Agriculture Directorate, engineer Bilal Haloul, stated that hurrying the harvesting process would reduce the oil content in the fruits, which negatively affects the quantity of the produced oil and its quality, in addition to decreasing the economic value and the expected financial returns for farmers.
He called on farmers to place the olives in plastic crates or "hessian" bags immediately after harvesting to allow for ventilation, and to avoid plastic bags which negatively affect the quality of the extracted oil, and to press the fruits within 36 hours of harvesting.
He mentioned that many farmers in Tafilah had begun harvesting olives, especially the "Nabali" varieties, early in the current season, which will affect the quantities and quality of the extracted oil, noting that the directorate is ready to provide guidance and agricultural advice to the farmers.
He added that the olive presses in Tafilah had been inspected for their efficiency to accommodate farmers and their compliance with health standards, with field tours being conducted to listen to complaints from farmers about the decreased productivity of the oil produced in these presses, and samples of the cake material were examined to determine oil percentages, along with conducting periodic acidity measurements.
He highlighted that Tafilah hosts about 35,000 dunams of ancient olive orchards in the middle of the city, besides hundreds of dunams of olive orchards from modern cultivation, both irrigated and rainfed, while its oil is distinguished by high quality and low acidity.
