Saturday, May 7, 2022

Olive Revolution: Pakistan Joins International Olive Council

Pakistan's Ten Billion Tree Tsunami project launched in 2014 by the PTI government has sparked a silent olive revolution in the country.  Pakistan, now the 19th member of the International Olive Council, is producing about 1,500 tons of olive oil per year and 830 tons of table olives,  according to Juan Vilar Strategic Consultants. It is also helping tackle some of the effects of climate change such as soil erosion and desertification and bringing new opportunities to farmers. Olive cultivation was started as a pilot project in Potohar region by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif's government in 2014. The PTI government promoted it nationwide as a part of Prime Minister Imran Khan's Ten Billion Tree Tsunami initiative to bring about the olive revolution in the country.  

Olive Valley, Pakistan

Pakistan is the world's third largest importer of cooking oil. In 2020, Pakistan imported $2.1 billion worth of palm oil, behind only India's $5.1 billion and China's $4.1 billion in palm oil imports. Increasing olive oil production will help the country reduce its dependence on palm oil imports. Substituting imported palm oil with domestic olive oil may also help improve the heath of Pakistani consumers. 

The International Olive Council (IOC) has 18 members, mostly European and Middle Eastern nations located in the Mediterranean region. Pakistan has joined as its 19th member. The IOC members account for more than 98% of global olive production. The IOC has been headquartered in the Spanish capital Madrid since it was founded in 1959.  The organization specifies acceptable quality control testing methods and assures consumer transparency information, for example: hygiene standards along the supply chain, suitable packing materials and filling tolerances product labelling standards, identification of any food additives or allowable contaminants, recommendations for environmental protection in the use and disposal of olive products.  


Olive Plantation in Peshawar, Pakistan. Source: Olive  Oil Times

Welcoming Pakistan into the organization, Mr. Abdellatif Ghedira, the IOC’s executive director, told Olive Oil Times: “In Pakistan, olive oil culture is making inroads, and so are the opportunities related to that .....The council is a decisive player in contributing to the sustainable and responsible development of olive growing, and it serves as a world forum for discussing policymaking issues and tackling present and future challenges".  

Olive trees thrive in dry arid regions with rocky soils that are more challenging for traditional crops. Pakistan government officials believe that olive farming is an efficient answer both to reforestation needs and economic development. “A special focus in this phase will be given to underprivileged areas of the country, such as Southern Balochistan, Southern Punjab, the tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and some parts of Sindh province,” Muhammad Tariq, national project director at the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, told Olive Oil Times. 

It is expected that traditional farming and modern techniques would make large tracts of barren land productive, creating new jobs and growing the economy. Drip irrigation systems are being deployed over 16,000 hectares and 3.6 million olive trees. The Pakistani public and private sectors currently maintain 26 olive oil extraction plants of different capacities, from 80 kilograms per hour to 600, according to Olive Times.

Pakistan has the potential to be a world leader in olive production. In the last decade,  PTI's Ten Billion Tree Tsunami initiative has spurred rapid olive cultivation in Pakistan with the import of 100,000 olive seedlings from top olive producing countries like Spain, Italy and Turkey. Pakistan’s climate is conducive for olive production, as the olive trees grow fast in regions with moderate winters following long hot summers.

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Pakistanis Are Among the Most Carnivorous

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Pakistan Among World's Largest Food Producing Countries

Drip Irrigation: Can Pakistan Make its Deserts Bloom?

Pakistan's Agenda at COP26 Climate Conference

31 comments:

Sabahat Ashraf said...

Aren't we mixing up two things?
The initiative for building an Olive industry is definitely a good thing. And if those pictures are from Pakistan, they are nice.
But we are still awaiting for any pictures of the Billion Tree Tsunami…or did I miss something?

Riaz Haq said...

Sabahat: "Aren't we mixing up two things?"

Read the reference I have cited from Olive Times.

https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/pakistan-to-become-olive-council-member/105121

"The nationwide Ten Billion Tree Tsunami project launched by the government to tackle some of the effects of climate change such as soil erosion and desertification complements the olive expansion projects meant to bring new opportunities to farmers"

Haroon said...

I recently visited Pakistan and drove from Islamabad to sialkot. I was so surprised that previously region of Pothohar from sohawa to Dina was barren but there is now a thick forest. And even people reported resurgence of wild life. Domeli and other areas are now think in forest.. Again on motorway from kalar kahar to chakri was allot of thick plantation of Morianga.

Riaz Haq said...

The olive revolution was started almost 10 years ago by Punjab government. I saw advertisement campaign of Pakistan produced olive oil first time on 2016..

https://www.dawn.com/news/754766/turning-potohar-into-olive-valley

Riaz Haq said...

FD: "The olive revolution was started almost 10 years ago by Punjab government"

It appears that the olive valley project was initiated by Shahbaz Sharif's Punjab government in 2012. It was later embraced by PTI government in KP and by Imran Khan at the federal level as part of its Ten Billion Tree Tsunami.

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/04/25/kp-agriculture-dept-seeks-to-increase-pakistans-olive-exports/

Babar Raja said...

Sir this project started in 2005 at baari research Center Chakwal. Then an ngo called AgriTourism entered in this and did a festival at very year on it to attract govts of nawaz sharif , musharraf and zardari subsequently to keep paying attention and keep paying subsidies … when PTI govt came , we already were the biggest farmer of olives in the world. And in the next five years we will be the biggest olive producers in the world too. Imran khan continued this project and we thank him for that but he didn’t start this. For the past seven years I have been chairing this NGO …. Google National olive festivals by Agri tourism Agri Tourism Development Corporation of Pakistan.

Fawad Khan said...

Plants take several years to become fruit bearing. All of this started in 2015-2016.

https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/africa-middle-east/planting-300000-olive-trees-underway-pothohar-pakistan/52297

Malik Amin Aslam said...

Another reason why the Imran Khan 10 BillionTree Tsunami needs to continue with full momentum - it is a visionary initiative in Pakistan national interest

Riaz Haq said...

Under the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project, Pakistan is growing thousands of olive trees in its northwestern region – once considered a hotbed for terrorism activity.

https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/in-pakistan-efforts-to-grow-olives-in-underdeveloped-areas-begin-to-bear-fruit/105533

..after the federal government launched the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project in 2018, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province administration decided to plant thousands of olives as a symbol of peace in the region.

The provincial government’s forestry department has planted around 8,000 olive trees in Amangarh, a vast area of the country with little agricultural activity located around 40 kilometers northeast of the historic city of Peshawar.

Pakistan’s federal Ministry of Climate Change also launched the Olive Trees Tsunami Project in 2021, intending to plant four million hectares of olive trees.

After declaring the country’s land and climate suitable for olive tree cultivation, the ministry decided to plant trees in the southern region of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, tribal areas and northern parts of the province Punjab.

The Peshawar Divisional Forest Officer Tariq Khadim, looking after the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project in the province, told Olive Oil Times that 8,000 olive trees had been planted on 27 hectares of land.

All of the trees were sourced from the local nursery of the forest department, Khadim said.

He added that 2,000 hectares of barren land were allocated for a different plantation under the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project. The forest department separated 27 hectares for olives as the land was suitable for planting them.

Khadim said though the terrain was suitable for olive growing, less rainfall and low underground water level emerged as a challenge to water the olive saplings.

He said the forest department in this area installed 10 solar panels, established tube wells and set drip irrigation system to water the olive saplings.

“A 16,000-foot (4,900-meter) water pipe has been used for drip irrigation and smooth supply of water for olive saplings,” he said.

The forest officer added that more than 95 percent of olive trees had grown successfully in the last two years.

Khadim added that these trees would bear an average of 110 kilograms of fruit each after four to five years, resulting in the average production of 12 liters of olive oil.

“About 112,000 liters of olive oil will be produced annually from this area after the plants started fruit production,” Khadim said.

Tahir Malik, a professor at the National University of Modern Languages, viewed planting olives in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a positive step after the Global War on Terrorism.

“People in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province suffered most in the country during the 20-year war in Afghanistan as they were on the frontlines when suicide bombings incidents were taking place from 2008 to 2013,” he said.

According to Malik, the conflict had severely negative psychological effects on people living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tarnished the region’s reputation worldwide.

He said that growing olives in the region would create a more favorable political narrative for the people and the region.

“It will reflect that people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa want peace, not bombs,” he said.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an international body with the mandate of monitoring different projects of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project, has approved the plan to plant olive trees in the region.

Hammad Saeed, the organization’s project manager in Pakistan, said the plantations under the project had brought positive impacts for Pakistan.

“It has increased the forest cover area and generated the economic activity as well,” he said.

Saeed added that it was especially good to see a country already severely impacted by the effects of climate change taking serious steps in its mitigation.

Riaz Haq said...

Lauding the initiative undertaken by five public sector universities in Balochistan to plant olive groves on 500 acres of land, Balochistan Governor Syed Zahoor Ahmad Agha on Monday said it was a positive step as numerous districts of the province were suitable for olive cultivation.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2340287/olive-oil-processing-centre-inaugurated

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the latest olive oil processing center at the Balochistan Agricultural Research and Development Center, the governor said 70 per cent olive cultivation of the country is being done in Balochistan.

“Thirty per cent olive oil is being extracted in Balochistan during the present era and olive oil is currently sold at three thousand per liter. My services are always available for the completion of any project which is for the benefit of the people,” he added.

Governor Agha further said the government would spend Rs600 billion on development projects in Balochistan to improve the living standard of locals. ”It was the responsibility of all agencies to provide guidance, assistance and access to the international market to the landowners of the province.”

It is pertinent to note that Balochistan has great potential for modernisation of agriculture and livestock sectors.

Earlier, the governor was informed in a briefing that the project worth Rs2 billion would provide machinery and other facilities to the farmers of Balochistan. This is followed by another project costing Rs4 billion in which farmers will be imparted three months training.

Both the projects are being launched from Balochistan.

Chairman Pakistan Agricultural Council Dr Ghulam Ali, FAO representatives Waleed Mehdi, Sabai, MD of Pak Oil Seeds Department Dr Khair Muhammad Kakar, Dr Nadeem Sadiq and Director Research Javed Tareen
were also present on the occasion.

Riaz Haq said...

Fawad: "Plants take several years to become fruit bearing. All of this started in 2015-2016"

A few olive seedlings planted by PMLN CM in one region (Potohar) of one province (Punjab) did not amount to a national revolution. PTI’s nationwide campaign of planting olive seedlings in KP and Balochistan is what made the olive revolution in Pakistan

Khalil said...

for cooking only use the 'Pomace' grade olive oil.
Extra Virgin is not to be heated to retain the healthy benefits of it. Use it to sprinkle on your prepared foods, dips, and salad dressing for maximum benefits and nutritional value.

Once the oil is heated up, it's not the same thing,
This oil is a juice more than oil.
Always consume it raw as it is.

Riaz Haq said...

Khalil: "Once the oil is heated up, it's not the same thing, This oil is a juice more than oil. Always consume it raw as it is"

Some sources put the smoke point of olive oil somewhere around 374–405°F (190–207°C) (17). This makes it a safe choice for most cooking methods, including most pan frying. Extra virgin olive oil's smoke point is somewhere around 374–405°F (190–207°C). This makes it a good choice for most cooking methods.



Normal cooking use is unlikely to oxidize or significantly damage olive oil.



However, it may degrade some of the antioxidants and vitamin E, which are sensitive to heat.



In one study, heating olive oil at 356°F (180°C) for 36 hours lead to a decrease in antioxidants and vitamin E, but most of the trace compounds were intact (18).



One of the main active compounds in extra virgin olive oil is oleocanthal. This substance is responsible for olive oil’s anti-inflammatory effects (19Trusted Source).



Heating olive oil at 464°F (240°C) for 90 minutes reduced the amount of oleocanthal by 19% according to a chemical test and 31% according to a taste test (20Trusted Source).



In another study, simulated frying for 24 hours reduced some beneficial compounds, but 10 minutes in a microwave or boiling in water had only minor effects (21Trusted Source).



The trace compounds in olive oil are also responsible for some of its flavor. Therefore, overheating olive oil can remove some of its taste.



Keep in mind that these studies use rather extreme conditions.



https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-olive-oil-good-for-cooking#nutrient-loss

Riaz Haq said...

Breakthrough project in Sindh turns Pakistan into palm oil producing country

https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1769666/pakistan


Oil content of palm fruit from Sindh's plantation in Thatta is 2 percent higher than the world average

Pakistan consumes 4.5 million tons of edible oil a year, of which some 90 percent is imported, mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia


Pakistan’s southeastern Sindh province has successfully completed a pilot oil palm cultivation and extraction project, putting the country on the list of palm oil producers.
An oil extraction facility at the site of the pilot oil palm plantation in the province’s southern Thatta district produced its first oil last week. The development is seen as a breakthrough for the South Asian nation which is heavily dependent on palm oil imports.

“The palm oil extraction is being done as a test run at the moment and the results are wonderful and very encouraging,” Muhammad Aslam Ghouri, secretary of Sindh’s Environment, Climate Change and Coastal Development which is running the project, told Arab News on Friday.


The Rs25 million ($157,000) pilot project started in 2016 on 50 acres of coastal land.

“In 2016, Malaysian experts came here and they studied everything including soil and environment and they certified that the fruit is very good,” Ghouri said. “The oil content of the palm fruit is 2 percent higher than the world average.”


The yield from the fertile soil is also encouraging as even 60 palm trees can be grown on each acre.


Pakistan consumes around 4.5 million tons of edible oil a year, of which some 90 percent is imported, mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia — the world’s biggest producers of the commodity.

While the Thatta oil extraction facility can produce only up to two tons of oil a day, Ghouri believes the reliance on imports can be greatly reduced if the Sindh project is expanded.

Seeing the project as a “game changer” for the province and country, the Sindh government has already allocated an additional 1,600 acres for palm cultivation, which it further plans to expand to 3,000 acres.

Ghouri said that ECC&CD has already invited farmers and private firms to show the “success story” and encourage them to invest and join the industry.
“Seeing the success of this pilot project we can safely say that in future when there is investment in this sector, private parties come in to start palm plantation and invest in oil extraction mills as we have shown that it can be done. Then this (less reliance on imports) can happen.”

Oil traders, however, say that there is a long way ahead before Pakistan will be able to offset the imports of the staple commodity.
“It is a step in the right direction that has a potential to substitute palm oil imports and save foreign exchange, but it would take time to make any meaningful contribution as the country imports on an average 100,000 tons of palm oil per month,” Ismail Wali, an oil trader at Jodia Bazaar in Karachi, told Arab News.
Farmers are less enthusiastic as they remember a similar initiative being undertaken in 1996 to develop the country’s vast coastal belt into an oil palm cultivation hub. For two decades the project was neglected, causing huge losses.
“We had imported expensive samplings of palm and planted over an area of 400 acres in Mirpur Sakro, Thatta district,” Mumrez Khan, a former oil palm farmer, told Arab News.

“We had to abandon the plantation in 2009 due to lack of support and required guidance from the government.”

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan Punjab Govt releases schedule for spring sunflower cultivation - Pakistan Observer

By News desk -December 16, 2021

https://pakobserver.net/punjab-govt-releases-schedule-for-spring-sunflower-cultivation/

Cultivation of sunflower in Dera Ghazi Khan & Rajanpur will start from 15th December to January 31st , while the second phase includes Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Khanewal, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Layyah, Lodhran, Rajanpur, Bhakkar, Vehari and Bahawalnagar from 1st till 31st January.

In the third phase of sunflower cultivation Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushbab, Jhang, Sahiwal, Orkara, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Lahore, Mandi Bahauddin, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Narwal, Attock, Rawalpindi, Gujarat, Chakwal.

Sunflower planting season is scheduled for January 15th to February 15th. Use 2 kg of hybrid seeds per acre for sunflower cultivation. Suitable types of sunflower include High Sun-33, T-40318, Agora 4, NKR Money, US 666, US 444, PAR Sun 3, Axon-5264, Axin-5270, S-278, HS. F-360A, Sun-7, Ori-648, Ori-516. It is very important to cultivate sunflower at the right time to get better yield because late planting not only reduces the yield per acre of sunflower but also reduces the quantity of oil. Pakistan imports Rs 300 billion worth of edible oil every year, which is a burden on the country’s economy.

Ahmed said...

Dear Sir

Pls pray that Imran Khan again becomes PM of the country otherwise these lousy and incompetent politicians who have just overthrown him and came into government will again take the economy and restructured system of Pakistan back to that same old corruption .

Anonymous said...

Do you really think the data shared by you is factious??
Do you really mean that Billion Tree Tsunami was launched in 2014 by PTI government???

Riaz Haq said...

Anon: "Do you really mean that Billion Tree Tsunami was launched in 2014 by PTI government???"


Yes, the Billion Tree Tsunami was launched by PTI in KP in 2014.


Here's a 2021 Washington Post story excerpt:


August marks the beginning of monsoon season in Pakistan, and with the rain comes another busy stretch for the country’s ambitious tree-planting program.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, residents of all stripes, from government officials to Boy Scouts, fan out along the hills. They bring with them chinar tree saplings — which can grow to nearly 100 feet tall — along with other varieties, and they begin digging.

It’s all part of an effort that started in 2015, when Imran Khan — then a provincial politician and now Pakistan’s prime minister — backed a program dubbed a “Billion Tree Tsunami.” The initiative reached its provincewide target in 2018 and was so successful that federal officials expanded the drive nationally in 2019 with a new goal of 10 billion trees — or, the “Ten Billion Tree Tsunami.”

“Everyone is waking up and starting to plant,” lawyer and environmentalist Hazrat Maaz told The Washington Post at the time.

The program addresses Pakistan’s history of deforestation as the country confronts the realities of climate change in the form of hotter temperatures, melting Himalayan glaciers and intensifying monsoon rains.

“It makes us very vulnerable,” Malik Amin Aslam, Pakistan’s federal minister for climate change, said in a recent phone call. He has overseen both the provincial and national planting campaigns. “The cheapest, most effective and quickest way to fight climate change is to plant trees,” he said.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/pakistan-tree-billion-tsunami-photos/

Riaz Haq said...

Third Pole report from May 2016:

https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/climate/pakistans-billion-tree-tsunami-takes-hold/

The project kicked off in June 2015 and so far 250 million saplings have been raised in largely private nurseries across KP. These saplings are now being planted across the province. Much of the hard work has already been done according to Malik Amin. “As this massive nurseries infrastructure is in place, it would be much easier to replicate this next year and take this number to 300 million saplings. The remaining 450 million saplings are being naturally generated in forest enclosures, which are being protected through the participation of local communities. All this will hopefully allow KP to achieve its target of one billion plantations by the end of next year”. This is a big jump from previous years when only about 20 million saplings used to be planted every year.

We recently visited Haripur district in KP to see how this ambitious project was progressing on the ground. Raees Khan, the district forest officer for Haripur, showed us around the “central model” government nursery in Nikkahpah near the main road. The nursery, which has grown around 600,000 plants since it was set up last year, was full of Chir pine saplings that would soon be ready for plantation. The nursery also had Kachnar saplings (a local variety) and Eucalyptus, which are thirsty trees that could dry out the sub-soil water. Eucalyptus are being grown on popular demand of local communities as the fast growing species can bring economic returns within five years, explained Raees Khan.

Some ecologists have warned that the campaign will be futile because the wrong species of trees are being identified for the wrong places. Lal Badshah, an ecologist and assistant professor at Botany department in University of Peshawar, is one such critic. He told News Lens Pakistan that conocarpus – a tropical mangrove species found along rivers in limited coastal areas – are being planted in the mountainous Peshawar region,

Malik Amin rejects such criticisms: “A high preference is given to indigenous varieties for the local areas. In the south, where there are marginal and water logged lands, the Eucalyptus plantations aid in lowering the water table,” he said.

These nurseries have now sprung up in almost every district of KP, from Chitral in the mountainous north to Dera Ismail Khan in the southern plains. Most are privately owned and the demand is increasing.

Under the “youth nurseries” package, the provincial government provides a secure buyback agreement for unemployed youth or rural women to set up kitchen nurseries – with about 25,000 saplings – as well as a 25% of costs in advance. The nursery can then earn around PKR 12,000 to 15,000 (USD 115-143) per month, which is a sizeable income in the area. In fact, most of the small scale or household nurseries are currently being run by rural women who have managed to enhance their income.

Dr Hanif Quazi said...

I think it will be fair for me to comment on the subject of Olive Plantation in Pakistan. Please do remember Dr Zafar Altaf and Dr Zar Quraish- they are the real heroes of bringing in Olives in the equation of edible oil production in Pakistan. I was MD PODB 1996-1998. We started Canola and Sunflowers maximization programme with the support of President Laghari and a long-term Project on Olives. Dr Zar Quraish was In-Charge of PODB in KP and single handedly he initiated and established the Sangbati Olive Orchard in Mardan in 1997.His effort were strongly supported by Dr Zafar Altaf. Of course progress has since been subsequently made by various entities and I wish them Godspeed. Dr Zar Quraish is alive and well in Islamabad and he should recognized, when and if Pakistan calms down with itself a little bit.

Riaz Haq said...

What is happening to Pakistan’s green stimulus?
New climate change minister Sherry Rehman has given her assurance that Pakistan will remain serious about conservation.

https://www.eco-business.com/news/what-is-happening-to-pakistans-green-stimulus/

Wajahat Shah, 32, is a labourer at a government-run tree plantation, spread over 3,000 hectares of army land in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. “Ten days after the government announced the lockdown due to coronavirus, I had to close my grocery shop,” Shah told The Third Pole.

The plantation is part of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, the flagship initiative of the recently ousted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. The project has been a lifesaver for up to 85,000 residents like Shah, Mohammad Usman Khan, a forest officer, said.

Before Covid-19, Shah earned as much as 25,000 Pakistani rupees (USD 129) a month from his shop. Now, his work at the plantation gives him PKR 15,000 (USD 77), and he also receives a small monthly rent from his shop, which is being run by someone else.

“I know this is much less, but our family of three has fewer needs [now]; I also prefer working outdoors,” he said, adding that this way he gets time to study for his bachelor’s degree.

However, forest officer Khan admitted that turning 3,000 hectares of barren army land into an oasis, growing olive, ziziphus lotus, rosewood, acacia trees and more, is too big a task for the 50 labourers the plantation employs. The government’s hands, he explained, were tied due to lack of funds.

The area – 32 kilometres from Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – has plenty of water, with groundwater drawn from solar-powered tubewells, but not enough manpower. “We should have at least eight labourers for every 40 hectares,” said Khan, adding that it may not be possible to green the area without more staff.

A ‘booster dose’ for conservation
Pakistan’s Green Stimulus, a USD 120 million loan from the World Bank, was conceived as a “booster dose” for this and similar nature-based projects, said former minister for climate change, Malik Amin Aslam, using a Covid-19 analogy.

The money, originally earmarked for a project by the Pakistan Meteorological Department, was redirected to nature restoration in response to hardship created by Covid-19, Aslam said.

Speaking to The Third Pole on 29 April following Imran Khan’s removal as prime minister, he said he feared the package may face delays.

These “nature-positive funds” Aslam said, referring to the Green Stimulus package, were “literally within arm’s reach”, with the first tranche to be released by 15 April. “The first phase was ready for rollout – when we ourselves got prematurely rolled out!” he rued.

Pakistan’s Green Stimulus fits within the scope of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030, a framework focused on reversing ecosystem loss to fight the climate crisis. It “was meant to protect nature and give green jobs to thousands of people including youth and women”, Aslam explained.

Now with Pakistan in political turmoil, Aslam feared that “all efforts to protect nature and give green jobs may well go down the drain”.

New minister wants to continue Pakistan’s green stimulus
Aslam’s concerns may be unfounded. Sherry Rehman, the new climate change minister, told The Third Pole that the grant will remain available to Pakistan. The World Bank, she explained, is supporting the country, not a particular administration under a certain party, so the agreement still stands.

The Third Pole contacted the World Bank about the status of the loan; a reply had not been received at the time of publication.

Anonymous said...

This is good news for Pakistanis that Pakistan is planting olive plant.
The government should try to plant the tea plant.
Pakistan is agriculture country but small farmer are leaving this business because of inflation. There is no profit in agriculture in Pakistan. Government should have subsidies for farmer instead of mills owner.

Riaz Haq said...

Tree Plantation: 8.8 Mln Saplings Would Be Planted

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/tree-plantation-88-mln-saplings-would-be-pl-1542432.html


A total of 8.8 million saplings would be planted in four districts of the division during current tree plantation campaign.

This was stated by Divisional Commissioner Dr Irshad Ahmad while inaugurating tree plantation campaign by planting a sapling in the lawn of his office here on Sunday. Additional Commissioner Coordination Fareed Ahmad, Conservator of Forests Niaz Muhammad, Divisional Officer of Forests Nisar Khan and ACR Ghazala Kanwal and others were also present.

The Commissioner said that the forest department would plant 5.4 saplings, while private organizations would plant 2 million saplings, Pakistan Army would plant 1.2 million and other departments would also plant 0.

2 million saplings in the division.

Divisional Officer, Forest ,Nisar Khan briefed the Commissioner that on the Independence Day (August 14) 30,000 saplings would be planted in four districts in which 10,000 saplings would be planted in Sargodha and 5,000 in other three districts each, while the forest department would also distribute 1500 saplings to citizens free of cost, he added.

The Commissioner Dr Irshad Ahmad highlighted that trees were imperative to counter environmental pollution, in addition to combating climate changes. "Therefore, the nation should take part actively in the tree plantation campaign to plant maximum trees in greater national interest", he added.

Riaz Haq said...

Palm Oil For Pakistan – A Burden Or Breather In-Depth Analysis Of Pakistan’s Edible Oil Industry



https://tdap.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Palm-Oil-For-Pakistan-%E2%80%93-A-Burden-Or-Breather.pdf



For the last five years, Pakistan's agro sector is under trade deficit with USD 2.2 billion being the highest low in 2020. The widened trade gap in 2020 was due to the imports of wheat and pulses and the sudden increase in palm oil prices globally. Palm oil is Pakistan's largest food import item with a 30 percent share in agro imports and the country’s second-biggest import after petroleum. The bulk imports are a consequence of Pakistan’s increasing per capita consumption of edible oil, and the inability to produce adequate quantities of edible oil domestically. The total local consumption of edible oil is 5 MMT, 30 percent of which is domestically-produced and 70 percent of edible oil demand is met through the import of refined palm oil. This demand-supply gap indicates a deeply rooted dependence of Pakistan on imported oilseeds and refined palm oil, which is susceptible to deepen due to yearly decline in local oilseed production. Although the government has launched oilseed production enhancement programs for rapeseeds, sunflowers, and olive oil, the harvest cycle will approximately take the next 7 years to complete. Amid rising demands of edible oil and stunted local production, palm oil is a natural and economic choice for Pakistan due to its affordability, accessibility, and availability. Pakistan imports 75 percent of palm oil products from Indonesia under the Preferential Trade Agreement, whereas it imports 25 percent of palm oil products from Malaysia under the Free Trade Agreement. Despite these agreements, Pakistan faces high export duties on crude palm oil and increasing prices of refined palm oil. Because of these concerns the import value of palm oil is increasing at 2 percent faster rate than the quantity imported annually. If this scenario prevails, Pakistan will import 4 million tons of palm oil by 2025 costing over USD3.5 billion. To control the predicted hike, it is mandatory to control the price and consumption of palm oil for Pakistan. Pakistan is capable of consuming 1.5 million tons of crude oil but only a thousand tons were imported in 2020. The crude will not only produce refined palm oil but will also produce palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) and palm stearin which are major imports of Pakistan. The study examines the possibility of importing crude oil instead of refined palm oil and finds out how imports of crude palm oil can reduce burden from the economy of Pakistan and make it an opportunity to move towards self-sufficiency

Riaz Haq said...

There has been a soaring demand of Edible oil in the global market, which is anticipated to record a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 5.1% to touch a level of around US$ 130.3b by end of 2024. The main contributors to the Edible oils industry are soybean oil and palm oil, which are mainly produced and exported by Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia. One of the leading markets of edible oil in the world is China followed by India, UAE and Pakistan.

https://ir.iba.edu.pk/research-projects-mba/201/

In Pakistan, edible oil is considered as one of the most essential commodities of daily usage. During 1947 to 1960 Pakistan was self-sufficient in edible oils. In 1960, started the import of edible oils and since then its import has been on an increasing trend due to lack of research and development, government polices to support farmers and resistance of import lobbies. Pakistan has been persistently and chronically deficient in its production as around 70% of the national requirement of Edible oil are fulfilled by imports. At the moment, Pakistan is one of the largest edible oil importers in the world with the import figures amounting to more than USD 3bn annually, which is imposing huge pressure on foreign exchange reserves being the 2nd highest import bill after energy import. And alone Palm oil contributes 91 percent of the total edible oil imports

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The objectives of the project include detailed study on Oil-Palm plantation i.e. Oil producing breeds, yield of fruit, environment, labour, land, farming and irrigation techniques; designing the Supply chain for a Palm Oil Extraction plant; developing technical and financial feasibility of a Palm Oil Extraction plant – Land, Labour, Machinery, Utilities etc.; and providing recommendations for future actions based on the outcome of feasibility study.

The project is expected to have manifold benefits in the realm of (1) import substitution, by locally producing different types of Palm oil having a current local demand of around 2.8million tonnes; (2) environment protection by utilizing 95,000 Hectare unused fertile land of Interior Sindh in the farming of oil-palm trees, (3) poverty alleviation by providing small loans to women and poor people in the rural areas to grow oil palm saplings from seeds and sell the saplings to farmers, (4) employment generation for skilled and unskilled workforce when vast area of land will be cultivated with oil palm trees and CPO mills will be installed alongside the plantation (5), promote the halted industrialization in the country by establishing CPO mills,(6) transfer of technology, as when the new plants are set up, our country will eventually be able to replicate and adopt the technology involved in the manufacturing of imported machinery, not only fulfilling the future demands of local industry but also exporting the same to other countries.

The project report is based on financial data and non-financial information obtained from primary and secondary research to create an operational model for Palm oil plantation and extraction in Pakistan. Our research methodology included the literature review, Interviews with experts, field visits, factory visits, Quotations and Comparative Analysis, and review of financial statements of current market players.

Based on our research, visits and interviews it was determined that in Pakistan there are ample opportunities and favorable conditions for growing oil-palm trees. Report findings suggest that Coastal belt of Sindh has proven capability of growing oil-palm trees with a per acre yield comparable to that in major oil palm growing countries due to plenty of fertile land, irrigation water courses, supply of fertilizers, and skilled farmers available in this part of land.

Riaz Haq said...

Malik Amin Aslam
@aminattock
@HamidMirPAK
reporting from the #FloodsInPakistan and explains how
@ImranKhanPTI
#10BillionTreesTsunami averted a major human disaster - #Trees acted as a #NaturalDefense and sacrificed while saving human lives

https://twitter.com/aminattock/status/1563803992525783041?s=20&t=N0vTudMeoI6MeuIHsDP2FA

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan's oilseed industry to bloom under China-Pakistan agriculture cooperation

https://english.news.cn/20230227/190423d59d2a43f7ae2855a1d1472321/c.html


To help Pakistan meet its edible oil demand and support its foreign exchange reserves, Chinese company Wuhan Qingfa Hesheng and Pakistani company Evyol group jointly provide high-quality hybrid canola seeds to Pakistani farmers.

GUJRANWALA, Pakistan, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- On a sunny February morning, the air in a small village in Pakistan's east Gujranwala district carried the sweet scent of canola flowers, which were dancing gently in the breeze.

Bees whirling on the profuse yellow blossom beaming with lush green pods were not only a view to behold, but also heralded the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of local businesspeople and farmers, who are shifting to a Chinese hybrid variety of canola seeds to reap higher yields and produce cooking oil at home.

"We sowed the new variety on 100 acres of land because of their potential to produce higher yields and more oil as compared to other oilseeds including mustard and rapeseed, which we previously used to cultivate," Intisar Ahmad Chattha, the farm's manager told Xinhua while carefully watching the pods.

Pakistan's annual consumption of cooking oil is around 5 million tons, but due to the low economic potential of oilseeds in the local market, they are not preferred by the farmers. The country has to import about 89 percent of oil to meet the demand, spending 3.6 billion U.S. dollars annually.

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Ghazanfar Ali, head of marketing in Evyol group told Xinhua it took them 10 years to produce a variety that is compatible with the local climate, produces a good yield and is good for human health.

The crop provides an increased profit for the farmers as its standard 2 kg pack is enough to cultivate 2 acres of land, and the farmer can get 1.5 tons of yield out of it, which is over 10 percent more than the yield from other varieties currently available in Pakistan, he said, when talking about the potential of the crop.

Zhou Xusheng, director of the international business department of Wuhan Qingfa Hesheng Seed company, told Xinhua that his company is working on transferring technology to Pakistan to make it efficient in smart agriculture.

"Through this project, we want to transfer the harvesting technology through which the farmers can use some attachments on the harvesters they already have and reduce the wastage," he said.

His company also wants to introduce processing units across the country, through which even in villages people can install them and produce processed oil for themselves and sell it to others, Zhou added.

He said that the seed is suitable for the environment across Pakistan, and this year they sold 11 tons of seeds across the country, which will be cultivated on 20,000 acres, and their target for next year is 100 tons, which will bring a great change to Pakistan by helping the country become self-sufficient in edible oil production.

The Chinese company will also buy back the canola harvest from some of the farmers and send it to the edible oil factories so that both farmer and the factory owners can realize the potential and health benefits of the oil, Zhou added.

"When Pakistan imports oil, it spends a lot of money and receives only the finished product. But when oil is produced locally, it will generate job opportunities, build an industrial chain and utilize the cakes after oil extraction as power-packed canola meal for cattle," he added.

Talking about the demand for canola meal in Pakistan, Chattha said that they have over 800 cows in the dairy farms in the area and to provide them with good quality food they have to import canola meals, which is a big financial burden due to the devaluation of the local currency.

Riaz Haq said...

Edible oil’s rocky year - Profit by Pakistan Today

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/12/31/edible-oils-rocky-year/


The year 2022 was not a walk in the park for both the producers and the consumers of palm oil. The year saw historic highs and record lows in the palm oil market causing volatility and at times losses as well.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan imported Palm and Soybean oil in excess of $3.3 billion this year. This is a 33% increase as opposed to the FY21. Despite import restrictions in place. Pakistan has already imported a considerably larger amount of palm and soybean oil between Jul-Nov in FY23, than it did in FY22.

Being such a major import, the prices of palm oil are almost as important as any other global commodity. Let us have a look at how the prices of Palm oil were affected throughout the last year, and how that can act as a lesson for the years to come.

Riaz Haq said...

Palm oil's rare premium leads to 'wash out' in India -dealers | Reuters


https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/palm-oils-rare-premium-leads-wash-out-india-dealers-2023-04-19/


MUMBAI, April 19 (Reuters) - Indian buyers have opted to cancel 75,000 tonnes of palm oil purchases for the first time in many years and switch to rival soft oils, such as sunflower oil and soyoil, five industry officials told Reuters.

Palm oil usually trades at a discount to soft oils, but import restrictions by top producer Indonesia have helped to push palm oil to a premium, making sun oil and soyoil more attractive to buyers.


This has prompted some Indian buyers to reduce purchases of palm oil for May shipments and increase soft oil imports. They can do this via mutual agreements with importers to cancel the sales - a process known locally as a "wash out".

This allows a buyer to sell back a product to the seller based on a pricing formula that includes the prevailing market price.

Lower palm oil imports by India, the world's biggest buyer of vegetable oils, could weigh on Malaysian palm oil prices , but support soyoil and sunflower oil prices.


A few buyers decided to opt for a wash out because of negative margins prevailing in the local market, said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage and consultancy firm.

Crude palm oil (CPO) imports are currently being offered at about $1,050 a tonne, including cost, insurance and freight (CIF), in India for May delivery, while palm oil imported in the past few months is now priced between $1,000 to $1,010, dealers said.

Wash outs are relatively rare in the Indian vegetable oil industry and the quantity is usually small at around 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.

"Big wash out is happening because of unusual price movement in palm oil. It has been rising even as other oils are falling in the past few months," said the Mumbai-based dealer.



Price-sensitive Asian buyers traditionally rely on palm oil because of low costs and quick shipping times. But palm oil has moved to a premium at the same time as soft oil prices have dropped, partly due to a record rapeseed crop.

Palm oil's discount to rival oils was much as $500 in the December quarter, but now it is holding a rare premium of more than $30 per tonne over sunoil for May shipments, dealers said.

Indian buyers are replacing palm oil with soyoil and sunflower oil for shipments in May, said Rajesh Patel, managing partner at GGN Research.

India's palm oil imports in May could fall to 700,000 tonnes, compared with an average monthly import of 879,000 tonnes so far in 2022/23 marketing year ending on Oct. 31, dealers said.

India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. It imports soybean and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

Riaz Haq said...

Peanuts to solve high edible oil prices issue
Pakistan, China join hands to increase planting area, crop yield

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2404516/peanuts-to-solve-high-edible-oil-prices-issue


Lately, Rainbow’s high-oleic-acid peanut cultivation base project was formally included in the China-Pakistan agricultural cooperation framework by the Ministry of Agriculture, China.

“As you can see, our seed registration with Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) has started. A total of five high-oleic peanut varieties for oil extraction of Runhua series have been trial-planted in Pakistan, which is expected to achieve fruitful results,” revealed Fan Changcheng, Deputy General Manager of Rainbow.

“Next, our aim is to increase the area gradually to 1,500 hectares in the coming years,” he said.

“My country has a long tradition of peanut planting. Peanuts like warm environment with sufficient sunlight, with loose and breathable sandy loam as the most suitable soil condition. The Potohar region of Punjab is the best area for peanut production,” Ijaz stated, adding that peanut seeds contain 40-50% oil and the high-oleic peanut oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids.

“During our trial, we always focused on how the local environment can act on the quality of seeds on the whole. The varieties we selected have the highest oleic acid content, up to 75-80%, which means very high nutritional value.”

“Self-sufficient in peanut production means that we can reduce our import bill of edible oil,” said Muhammad Jahanzaib, Scientific Officer of the Oil Seed Research Programme in NARC Pakistan.

Statistics of the US Department of Agriculture showed that Pakistan’s peanut planting area in 2022-23 is about 150,000 hectares, with total output of 140,000 metric tons.

THE ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON THE CHINA ECONOMIC NET

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan is planting lots of mangrove forests – so why are some upset? : NPR



https://www.npr.org/2023/11/10/1208201179/pakistan-is-planting-lots-of-mangrove-forests-so-why-are-some-upset


KETI BANDAR, Pakistan — Wildlife ranger Mohammad Jamali boats through mangrove forests of the Indus River Delta, the terminus of a curly waterway that begins thousands of miles upstream in the Himalayas. Birds flutter in and out. Insects dart around mangrove roots that poke like fingers out of the mud. It looks ancient, but this part of the forest is only 5 years old.

"We planted this," says Jamali, 28-years-old. We — rangers of the wildlife department of the government of the southern Pakistani province of Sindh, and locals of nearby fishing communities.

This forest in southern Pakistan is part of one of the world's largest mangrove restoration projects, covering much of the vast delta, an area nearly the size of Rhode Island. These trees, which exist in slivers between sea and land, are powerhouses of sucking up the carbon dioxide that is dangerously heating up the planet.



"They do this very big job per hectare," says Catherine Lovelock, an expert on coastal ecology. Mangroves capture, or sequester, carbon dioxide "through their roots and into the soil, as well as above ground," she says.

This mangrove reforestation effort alone in the Indus Delta is expected to absorb anestimated 142 million tons of carbon dioxide over the next sixty years. It's a test case for restoration, and planting mangroves at this scale might help the fight to curb planetary warming.




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In Pakistan, some environmentalists say without carbon credits, this massive reforestation project wouldn't have happened. They say the government was incentivized to support it. Instead of having to find the budget to do this, the government is being paid proceeds from carbon credit sales.

So far, Delta Blue Carbon has sold two batches of credits, most recently in June. It's made the provincial government around $40 million so far, according to local media outlet Arab News. It's big money in a poor country.

"It is paying money. It is generating revenue," says ecologist Rafiul Haq who consulted on the mangrove project. Haq says without that revenue stream, the government would be under pressure to let developers in, for shrimp farms or for seaside homes.

Haq says there's another benefit: auditors must evaluate the company's progress before they can sell more carbon credits, which means the mangrove forests are nurtured and protected, and the company has to show local communities are benefiting. "This is a blessing for us," Haq says. "We have to present ourselves as the good boy," he laughs.

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To other environmentalists, the mangrove project is "carbon colonialism."

"I don't begrudge anyone, especially in areas like these, for taking money for large scale restoration projects like this," says Polly Hemming, director of the climate and energy program of the progressive think tank, the Australia Institute. But she says, "it's just another form of carbon colonialism. Like, we'll give you some money to restore your land," and then, sell "your credits to a polluter so they can continue emitting."



Underscoring that argument, Hemming pointed to one of the key purchasers of these carbon credits is one of the world's largest fossil fuel trading companies, Trafigura. It is also one of the world's largest traders of carbon credits. Through a spokesperson, the company declined to comment for this story.