Olive trees to be grafted on commercial basis in Karak

In order to initiate work on grafting of olive trees on commercial basis, an awareness seminar was held at Tarkikhel village of district Karak to take on board the local farmers of the area. While addressing to the seminar, organised jointly by Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak with the collaboration of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), Director Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) of KKKUK Dr Zubair, Scientific Officer of Pakistan oil seed development board Dr Azmat Ali and Assistant Manager SMEDA Hafizulllah and others threw light on the importance of the olive for the farmers and claimed that soil and environment of the district was suitable for this tree.
They informed that crafting would be made in 500 trees in first phase and in second phases more crafting would be made in olive trees across the district. They claimed that the local farmers were unaware about its importance and added that very soon it would become an economic activity in the area which would provide job opportunities for the local people.
The experts said that climatic changes were occurring across the globe and claimed that the tree of olive has capacity to brace the climatic change and added that olive was used in the cure of about 70 diseases of different kinds. They informed that three projects have been launched by the Punjab government in the same field and added that the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also keen interested in the olive project. They said that they were going to make the association of the farmers in the district to create a network and in March of this year crafting would be made in the existing orchards of olive in the district.
Dr Zubair on the occasion said that KKKUK was providing an opportunity to farmers of the district to make it business on their doorsteps and stressed on the farmers to make the existing orchards of olive secure from ruthless cutting. He asked the farmers that the University would help them in making the orchards secure and the University would establish a local assignment plant for the trees of olive to extract oil from it. He cautioned that they were wasting a natural resource available to the local people in the shape of orchards of olive and later they also visited the other areas of the district including Speena Banda and Palosasar to observe the orchards of olive.