ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Approximately 200 acres of land have been allocated to planting hundreds of thousands of olive trees in Duhok province’s Akre town, said the mayor on Sunday.
Dilawar Bozo told Rudaw that the local government has launched a “major and new project” to make the town greener by planting more trees “which includes planting hundreds of thousands of olive trees in the village of Khirpe.”
Bozo adde that over 190 acres of land have been allocated to planting olive trees and that a factory will be built in the same area to produce olive products.
Such a project normally requires two years but if it continues at the current pace, the project should be done in nine months, according to the official.
There are nearly a million olive trees in Duhok, with farmers and investors planning to plant more trees in the province.
The government and the private sector in Duhok are working to make Duhok the leading olive producer in the Kurdistan Region.
According to Ahmed Jamil, director general of agriculture in Duhok, there are approximately 900,000 olive trees in Duhok province.
The annual production capacity is 34 tons of olives.
