Algeria/Bouira: the olive harvest is in full swing

The fields and olive orchards of Bouira live for several days a lively atmosphere because of the olive harvest campaign in full swing and which bring together entire families in the olive groves of this wilaya in the center of the country, it was noted.

On the plateaus and olive plains stretching from Ath Laâziz and Haizer to the Sahel valley in Chorfa, on the border with the wilaya of Bejaia, the olive fields have taken on the colors and atmosphere of the winter season. The farmers and their families have started a race against time to collect their olives in these sunny days, before the return of bad weather.

Every morning, rural families go out in the olive groves equipped with all the traditional material means, buckets, nets of all colors, steps, olive rakes and saws as well as other essential tools for the collection of olives.

In Semmache (El Adjiba), as elsewhere in M'Chedallah, the campaign has already arrived at its full pace despite the expected meager harvest this year, according to forecasts of the Directorate of Agricultural Services (DSA) of the wilaya.

In these areas known for the abundance of olive production, farmers show their pessimism in the face of drought following a severe lack of rainfall recorded in recent years.

"The lack of rainfall has caused a drought that has affected the olive crop locally and in many other parts of the country," said Mohamed Said, an olive grower in Semmache.

Many other fellahs have noted the phenomenon of drought, which, they said, has "severely affected the olive groves. They also attribute the decline in the yield of the olive tree to the phenomenon of alternation (a season of abundance follows another low yield), as well as fires and heat waves that have disrupted the vegetative cycle of the olive tree especially during the pollination phase.

Five million liters of olive oil expected

According to the forecasts of the DSA, a production of some 5 million liters of olive oil is expected in Bouira this year, which means a sharp decline compared to previous years which have experienced a production of up to 11 million liters of olive oil.

This decline has caused the price of olive oil to rise, whose liter has already reached the threshold of 850 dinars this week in Bouira. In oil mills, the quantities of olives received since the beginning of the campaign remain modest, according to owners of olive oil factories.

"There is a significant decline in the olive harvest this season, moreover, the quantities received so far are proof now are proof, "said Arezki APS, an owner of a semi-automatic oil mill in El Adjiba.

In Bouira, more than 230 oil mills including 43 traditional, 86 semi-automatic and 106 automatic are open since the beginning of the olive harvest, according to statistics provided by the agricultural services.

The wilaya of Bouira contains a total area of olive cultivation of 37,000 hectares, including more than 28,000 ha in production, according to data from the DSA.

The head of the Support Program for the agricultural sector in Algeria (PASA), Louiza Amirat, recalled that the olive sector has benefited from this program co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for the promotion of olive oil.European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the French expertise agency, Expertise France (EF). The program is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The objective of this program, which runs from October 2018 to September 2023, is to further develop this important sector in Bouira, as well as in the other wilayas concerned, namely Bejaia, Tizi Ouzou, Boumerdes, Jijel, Bordj Bou Arreridj Setif and Medea, was recalled from the same source.

Source: www.aps.dz/