Olive production in India facts for kids
Olives are a type of fruit that grow on trees, and they're used to make olive oil. In India, most olives are grown in the state of Rajasthan. Olives aren't originally from India.
Growing olives in India started in 2007. That's when young olive trees, called saplings, were brought from Israel. They were planted in the Thar Desert. The first olives were harvested in India in 2012. Making olive oil to sell began in September 2013. India's first own olive oil brand, called Raj Oil, was launched on November 9, 2016. By 2020, India produced 150 tonnes of olives.
How Olive Farming Started in India
In May 2006, a group from India visited Israel. This group included Sharad Pawar, who was India's Agriculture Minister, and Vasundhara Raje, who was the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. They went to an agriculture show.
While in Israel, Vasundhara Raje saw olives growing in the Negev desert. She thought, "If olives can grow here, maybe they can grow in Rajasthan's Thar Desert too!"
When she returned to Rajasthan, she talked to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. But they said no. They mentioned that an attempt to grow olives in Himachal Pradesh in 1985 had failed.
Even with this setback, the Government of Rajasthan decided to try anyway. On April 19, 2007, they created a company called Rajasthan Olive Cultivation Ltd (ROCL). This company was a partnership. It included the Rajasthan State Agriculture Marketing Board (RSAMB), a company from Pune called Plastro Plasson Industries (India) Limited (now Finolex Plasson Industries (India) Limited), and an Israeli company called Indolive Limited. Each partner had an equal share.
The Rajasthan government provided land and $3 million for the project. Finolex Plasson Industries gave special watering systems called micro-irrigation. This helps plants get water slowly and directly. Indolive shared their expert knowledge on how to grow olives. The RSAMB and Finolex also invested ₹1.5 crore (US$260,000) each.
First Olive Trees and Harvest
After the project started, over 112,000 young olive trees were brought from Israel. These trees were of 7 different types, or varieties: Barnea, Arbequina, Cortina, Koroneiki, Picual, Frantoio, and Picholine.
They were planted on 182 hectares of land given by the government. Eight olive farms were set up in different districts: Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar, Nagaur, Jalore, and Alwar.
A special nursery was built in Durgapura, near Jaipur. Here, the young trees were made stronger before being moved to the farms. The olive trees started to flower in 2011. By 2012, they began to produce fruit.
However, only 3 out of the 7 types of olives grew fruit. They produced a total of just 10 tonnes. Yogesh Verma, who was in charge of ROCL, said the project was a success. Lab tests showed that the olives had 9-14% oil content. This was close to the 12-16% oil content in olives from other countries. He said they would now work on growing more olives.
Gideon Peleg, the expert from Indolive, noted that Rajasthan's weather was different from Israel's. Rajasthan had very hot temperatures, long monsoon rains, and cold winters. He also believed that past attempts to grow olives in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir failed because there wasn't enough expert knowledge.
Growing Olive Farming in Rajasthan
After the first success, the Rajasthan government built a bigger nursery in Bassi, Jaipur. This nursery could grow 1 million olive plants every year. The government also offered big discounts on olive saplings, fertilisers, and drip irrigation systems. This was to encourage more farmers in the state to grow olives.
Making olive oil for sale officially started in Rajasthan in September 2013. By that year, over 144,000 olive trees had been planted. These trees covered almost 260 hectares (642 acres) of land, both government and private.
In 2014, Rajasthan produced 100-110 tonnes of olives. That same year, a machine to extract oil was bought from Italy. An olive oil refinery (a factory to process the oil) was built in Bikaner.
In August 2015, Rajasthan announced plans to greatly increase olive production. They aimed to cover 5,200 hectares with olive trees. The Government of Rajasthan launched India's first olive oil brand, called Raj Oil. This happened at a big agriculture meeting in Jaipur on November 9, 2016.
By 2020, Rajasthan produced 150 tonnes of olives.
