Pakistan’s Olive Gala Signals Growth of a Young Sector

Summary

Olive Gala 2025 in Pakistan attracted over 25,000 atten­dees, show­cas­ing the grow­ing inter­est and con­fi­dence in olive cul­ti­va­tion in the coun­try. The event fea­tured dis­cus­sions on increas­ing par­tic­i­pa­tion of young peo­ple and women in olive farm­ing, the devel­op­ment of a national olive pol­icy, and the poten­tial for export growth through gov­ern­ment sup­port and improved indus­try stan­dards.

Olive Gala 2025 marked a mile­stone for Pakistan’s emerg­ing olive sec­tor, draw­ing more than 25,000 vis­i­tors and sig­nif­i­cantly sur­pass­ing atten­dance at pre­vi­ous edi­tions. The event brought together pol­i­cy­mak­ers, farm­ers, inter­na­tional experts and indus­try stake­hold­ers from across the coun­try, high­light­ing the expand­ing scope and grow­ing con­fi­dence sur­round­ing olive cul­ti­va­tion in Pakistan.

Speaking about the event’s growth, Dr. Muhammad Tariq, national direc­tor of PakOlive, said par­tic­i­pa­tion has steadily increased each year, reflect­ing ris­ing inter­est and momen­tum across the sec­tor.

He pointed to shift­ing demo­graph­ics within agri­cul­ture, not­ing that young peo­ple and women are increas­ingly engag­ing in olive farm­ing. According to Tariq, pro­duc­ers are also plac­ing greater empha­sis on qual­ity, brand­ing and pack­ag­ing to meet inter­na­tional stan­dards.

Tariq added that Balochistan has emerged as a new focal point for olive cul­ti­va­tion, with grow­ing demand for both plan­ta­tion mate­r­ial and extra vir­gin olive oil. He said inter­est in the crop has increased sharply in the province.

Looking ahead, Tariq said a national olive pol­icy is cur­rently await­ing cab­i­net approval. The pro­posed frame­work aims to pro­mote sus­tain­abil­ity, improve gov­er­nance and reg­u­late the import and export of extra vir­gin olive oil, with expec­ta­tions for pos­i­tive out­comes once adopted.

International par­tic­i­pa­tion was also a key fea­ture of the gala. An agri­cul­tural expert from Italy empha­sized the cul­tural and his­tor­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance of olive cul­ti­va­tion, describ­ing the crop’s expan­sion in Pakistan as both nat­ural and deeply mean­ing­ful.

The expert noted Pakistan’s exten­sive her­itage of wild olive trees, explain­ing that this has helped cul­ti­vated vari­eties adapt well to local con­di­tions. He said Italian expe­ri­ence shows that agro­nomic man­age­ment and a sus­tained focus on qual­ity are essen­tial for long-term suc­cess.

He also high­lighted ongo­ing coop­er­a­tion through train­ing pro­grams and aca­d­e­mic exchanges, includ­ing ini­tia­tives that allow Pakistani stu­dents to study at agri­cul­tural insti­tu­tions in Italy. According to the expert, the pro­fes­sional capac­ity of local spe­cial­ists con­tin­ues to improve.

Loralai Olives, an award-win­ning local pro­ducer, also par­tic­i­pated in the event. Chief exec­u­tive and co-founder Shaukat Rasool said the gala offered an oppor­tu­nity to engage directly with con­sumers and show­case Pakistan’s grow­ing capa­bil­i­ties.

Rasool said con­sumer response reflected ris­ing national con­fi­dence in locally pro­duced olive oil. He noted that demand is increas­ing as more con­sumers shift from imported oils to domes­tic brands, par­tic­u­larly in major cities includ­ing Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

International inter­est is also grow­ing, Rasool said, adding that recent par­tic­i­pa­tion in trade events has gen­er­ated strong over­seas inquiries. With inter­na­tional ship­ments expected to begin soon, he antic­i­pates export vol­umes could sur­pass domes­tic sales.

He said gov­ern­ment sup­port has played an impor­tant role in the company’s growth, cit­ing encour­age­ment from the Ministry of National Food Security and Research. Rasool added that revis­it­ing the gen­eral sales tax on locally pro­duced olive oil could help lower prices and fur­ther stim­u­late the sec­tor.

From the sci­en­tific and hor­ti­cul­tural per­spec­tive, Shavir Masrur, assis­tant gen­eral man­ager at Izhar Farms Pvt. Ltd., described how the com­pany has devel­oped advanced nurs­ery and tis­sue cul­ture facil­i­ties to sup­ply dis­ease-free plant­ing mate­r­ial.

Masrur said Izhar Farms oper­ates with a team of PhD sci­en­tists, trained hor­ti­cul­tur­ists and inter­na­tional experts, fol­low­ing global stan­dards in plant health man­age­ment and nurs­ery pro­duc­tion.

While gov­ern­ment sub­si­dies and train­ing pro­grams have helped raise aware­ness, Masrur said their impact could be improved through bet­ter coor­di­na­tion, stronger mon­i­tor­ing and closer links between farm­ers and researchers.

He also empha­sized the impor­tance of regional zon­ing, not­ing that pro­duc­tiv­ity and oil yields vary sig­nif­i­cantly across Pakistan. According to Masrur, areas such as Balochistan out­per­form mar­ginal regions like Potohar, where lower yields make long-term sus­tain­abil­ity more chal­leng­ing for farm­ers.

Representatives from Helping Hand for Relief and Development Pakistan described Olive Gala as a valu­able plat­form for pro­mot­ing sus­tain­able liveli­hoods. Through its skills devel­op­ment pro­grams, the orga­ni­za­tion sup­ports farm­ers by improv­ing tech­ni­cal capac­ity and on-farm pro­duc­tiv­ity.

The orga­ni­za­tion high­lighted the suit­abil­ity of olive trees for Pakistan’s arid and semi-arid regions, not­ing their rel­a­tively low water require­ments. It also pointed to youth-focused ini­tia­tives, includ­ing plan­ta­tion projects that engage stu­dents in envi­ron­men­tal stew­ard­ship and cli­mate aware­ness.