Olive Farming

                                             

Commercial Olive Farming is a very easy but highly profitable business. The main purpose of commercial olive farming is the production of olive oil for the market.

Selecting a very good and suitable land for your olive farming project is vital. Olive plants can be cultivated in a wide range of soil types but usually require deep rich and well-drained loamy or clay loam soils for maximum production. Soil pH range between 6 and 7.5 is considered ideal for growth and maximum yields.

A warm climate to subtropical conditions are required for commercial olive farming. The optimum temperature range for good production is between 15°C and 20°C.

There are more than hundreds of olive cultivars available throughout the world. All these cultivars differ in size, color, shape, growth characteristics and also the qualities of the oil. Olive trees are highly sensitive to water stagnation and should be delayed in heavy rainy areas. Planting distance should be approximately 8 meter for fertile deep soils with adequate irrigation facilities. You could accommodate about 150 tress per hectare land.

Pruning

In the case of fruit bearing trees, pruning should be carried out immediately after harvesting. Doing this will encourage new growth of the trees. Removing dead and injured branches should also be done on a regular basis.

Inter cropping

You can cultivate any crop or vegetable like tomatoes, onions, or chili as an inter crop. This will give you some extra income during the first few years before the trees starts commercial production of olives.

Harvesting

Timely harvesting of olives is very important, because harvesting immature olives will decrease both quality and quantity of the olive oil.Hand picking is the most common and most desirable method of olive harvesting. However, this is an expensive and slow process, so you can also go for the mechanical method as it impacts the oil quality. The right time to harvest olives is when oil with a pleasant aroma and good quality is obtained without much bitterness.

                                                                

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