Syria which boasts 74 million olive trees intends to develop the local olive oil industry through a financial grant offered by the Italian government, a senior Syrian agricultural official on Tuesday said.
Director General of the General Board for Agriculture research Majd Jamal told a seminar on olive tree in Syria that the size of land planted with these trees stood at 517,000 hectare, while there were 74 million trees. Olive oil production during the past two seasons reached 726 tons.
Syria has joined the International Council for Olive Oil in 1998. "Syria is going soon to start Syrian olive oil development project through a financial grant estimated at Eur 1.9 million from the Italian government," Jamal said. (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
