Olive growers in Karak expect a substantial harvest this autumn after an unusually wet winter broke a four-year drought, and predict the recovery will push oil prices down sharply from last season's highs.
اضافة اعلان
The Karak Agriculture Directorate estimates production at about 9,100 tonnes of olives, of which roughly 1,800 tonnes will go for pickling and 7,300 tonnes to the presses, yielding an estimated 1,216 tonnes of oil. Director Mamoun Al-Adhaileh put the governorate's olive area at 52,460 dunums, split between 9,310 irrigated and 43,155 rainfed.
Karak recorded around 600 millimetres of rain last season in some areas, with parts of the governorate exceeding twice their long-term average. That followed four years of steep decline. Farmers also report no significant pest damage this year, including from the olive fruit fly, which cuts oil content, and credit the directorate's spraying and control programmes.
Prices are the immediate question. A 16-litre tin sold for around 120 dinars last season, when a poor crop left some Karak presses idle well before the season ended. Mohammed Al-Nuaimat, who farms in Al-Ayna in the Southern Mazar district, expects the tin to fall to between 90 and 100 dinars.
Saif Al-Maayta, a grower in Wadi Bin Hammad, gave the same range. Ahmad Al-Dhamour, who operates a press in Karak, put it closer to 90, noting that olives bear on an alternating cycle and this is an on year.
Ahmed Al-Jaafra, a farmer in Wadi Karak, said growers hope the season ends a run of poor ones. Many families in Al-Ayna, Wadi Karak, Iraq Karak and Wadi Bin Hammad depend on olives as their only income across the year, Al-Jaafra explained.
Groves in those areas draw on springs and wells rather than rainfall, which insulates them from drought, though heavy rain still improves yields by carrying nutrients to the trees.
Al-Nuaimat noted that the costs run in the other direction. Irrigation, spraying, harvesting and pressing all fall on the farmer each season regardless of the crop.
Al-Maayta pointed to a longer trend. Large areas planted in recent years have yet to come into production and should begin bearing within a few seasons, adding to output in the rainfed uplands.
Eight presses are operating in the governorate this year, Al-Adhaileh said, under continuous monitoring by directorate technical staff. A committee of specialists inspects each one for readiness and cleanliness, and oil from every press undergoes daily laboratory testing. Al-Dhamour said the presses can handle the expected volume, unlike last year.
Al-Adhaileh urged growers not to pick early. Olives should be fully ripe, packed in ventilated crates, and pressed immediately after harvest to protect oil quality.
Source: Al-Ghad. Reporting by Hisham Al-Adhaileh
