Antalya Commodity Exchange opened an online Olive School in cooperation with the Antalya Provincial Directorate of Agriculture in order to develop and expand olive and olive oil production in the region, and to inform producers and investors.
In Turkey, which ranks fourth in the world in olive production, the Olive School, which was opened online in cooperation with the Antalya Provincial Directorate of Agriculture of the Antalya Commodity Exchange in order to develop and expand olive and olive oil production in the region, and to inform producers and investors, has attracted great interest.
Ali Çandır, Chairman of the Board of the Antalya Commodity Exchange, in his speech on the first day of the lesson, said that olives are a very important value for these lands. Explaining that as Antalya Commodity Exchange, they have been working on olives and olive varieties for a long time, Çandır reminded that they brought the 2.630 decare Foundation Olive Orchard, which they rented from the Regional Directorate of Foundations, to the city.
Noting that there are 20 thousand trees in the olive grove, Çandır said: “We are not in the place we deserve in terms of production, consumption and added value from these products. That’s why I take this training very seriously. I hope this training will make significant contributions to the great richness of our lands, the added value of olives, and the reaching of this value that belongs to us to the public.”
Olive School has Received Great Interest
Antalya Agriculture Provincial Director Gökhan Karaca also mentioned the importance of producer training in agriculture. Expressing that they continued these trainings uninterruptedly during the pandemic period, Karaca said, “We are happy that the Olive School has received great interest. Farmers, academics, agricultural engineers, many entrepreneurs who want to invest in agriculture, as well as participants from various countries attend the training.
Izmir Olive Research Institute Agricultural Engineer Muzaffer Kerem Savran reminded that Turkey is the homeland of olives. Noting that the interest in olive and olive oil production and consumption has increased with the increasing interest in healthy nutrition in the world in recent years, Savran said: It ranks 8th with 864 thousand hectares. We are in the 5th place in table olive exports with 75 thousand tons, and in the 5th place in olive oil exports with 56 thousand tons. Countries such as Spain and Italy hold the market by making imports. Egypt has made a breakthrough in the field of table olives and has become the most important producer country after Spain. Tunisia is the most important competitor of Turkey in olive oil exports.”
Emphasizing that Tunisia has made a special agreement with EU countries and exported without being subject to customs duty, Muzaffer Kerem Savran said, “The consumption of olive oil is low in Turkey. We consume 2 kilograms of olive oil per person. Greece and Spain consume 11 kilograms, while Italy consumes 8 kilograms. Since 2005, serious steps have been taken to increase production in Turkey. The presence of olive trees in Turkey is increasing every year. It is tried to increase the production and consumption of olive and olive oil with the support”.