Prospects of olive farming in Nepal

In pre-himalaya regions of Northern Pakistan, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh (H.P.) and Uttar Pradesh of India, and Nepal, olive cultivation is being studied. Some significant results have been obtained for possibilities to exploit olive production. Olive is known as "Jaitoon" in Sanskrit, Arabic, Hindi, and Nepali . Olea cuspidata is a species locally known as "Lotto" in Dolpa and "Launtho" in Bajura districts of Nepal and "Kahu" in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh States of India.  In Pakistan and India the cultivated olives (Olea europaea L.) were introduced in fifties as evidenced by the existing plantations in Mingora (SWAT), Rawalpindi, and Pinjore in India, where olive cultivation started 40 years ago. The first olive orchard was established at Jidhari in Solan District by the efforts of Maharaja Patiala's Family. In sixties and seventies, the H.P. government established olive plantations and launched a top-working programme of Olea europaea with Olea cuspidata. Tehnical Cooperation Programme of FAO/UNDP was launched to provide necessary technical support from 1975 for several years. With the Bilateral Agreement between Indian and Italian Governments from 1984 to 1993, India has extended commercial olive plantation activities and olive oil industries in Himachal, Jammu and Uttar Pradesh. [Continue reading the full FAO report at ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/008/af106e/… ]