Olive trees withering under extreme weather conditions, say farmers

AMMAN — Although Jordan is among the top 10 olive producing countries in the world, farmers are claiming that extreme weather conditions are affecting olive produce. 

Abu Abdullah owns a 10-dunum olive farm located in Madaba. According to Abu Abdullah, he recorded a huge loss this year due to shrinking production. 

“My annual maintenance fees for the farm cost approximately JD5,000”, said Abu Abdullah.

 “I lost almost 50 per cent of my production due to extreme weather conditions,” Abu Abdullah told The Jordan Times. 

Abu Abdullah’s olive trees are rain-fed, but erratic rainfall patterns, especially during flowering season in spring, affected the harvest, he said.

Additionally, the cost of fertilising, trimming and cultivating is increasing annually, said Abu Abdullah. 

Abu Seif, another farmer, said that the heat waves the Kingdom witnessed during summer took a toll on his olive trees. 

“Harsh climate and extreme temperatures make it harder for olive trees to grow and bear fruit,” Abu Seif told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Olive oil expert Murad Maiatah told The Jordan Times that climate change and elevated temperatures impact the growth and development of olives and threaten olive oil quality. 

According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the olive tree is one of the most important trees planted in Jordan, covering about 72 per cent of the total area planted with fruit trees and 36 per cent of the total cultivated area. 

According to FAO, there are more than 20 million trees across the Kingdom, covering 130,000 hectares of the country’s total area. 

An official source at FAO told The Jordan Times that according to the Ministry of Agriculture’s statistics, this year’s olive oil production stands at 24,000 tonnes.

Olive oil production for 2021 was also around 24,000 tonnes, as reported by Al Mamlaka TV. 

However, the Ministry of Agriculture expected a 20 per cent increase in olive oil production this year, according to The Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

“We are expected to produce 28,000 tonnes of olive oil this season,” Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson Lorance Majali told Petra.