Damascus, (SANA) – Olive trees have an economic significance in Syria as they provide livelihood for many people and provide foreign currency through the export of olive oil.

In 2009, Syrian olive oil exports amounted to 74,000 ton, 51.4% of which was exported to Europe, while 16.2% were exported to Arab Gulf countries, 3.5% to Asia, 10.8% to other Arab countries, and 8.1% to other countries.

A study by the Export Promotion and Development Agency expects olive production to increase during upcoming years for various reasons such as the continuous expansion of olive farming with an annual increase of around 3 million trees.

Around 2 million olive trees enter production each years, as 57% of olive trees are less than 20 yeas old. Other reasons for the expected production increase include the government's support and encouragement of planting olive trees.

The study shows that areas planted with olive trees in Syria exceed 638,500 hectares that include around100 million olive trees. This sector participates with around 3.5% of national income, with Syria's olive production in 2009 exceeding 870,000 tons.

More than 55% of the olive oil produced in Syria is extra virgin oil which has an acidity of less than 0.8% according to international standards, and most olive oil brands are good and well-established. Estimates show that the value of olive oil exported by investment companies until June 2009 amounts to around SP 155 million.

The Ministry of Agriculture's marketing department states that all the exported olive oil is surplus to local needs, and that the amount of exported oil in 2009 exceeded the amount exported in 2008 by around 10,000 tons. Syria's consumption of olive oil in 2008 amounted to 120,000 tons.

Syrian olive oil ranked third globally in a contest organized by the German-based international food journal Der Feinschmecker, in which the 50 best brands of olive oil in the world were chosen. In this contest, Syria ranked first among newcomers in 2008-2009, with the journal saying that Syrian olive oil is "different hot flavors of sweet mint, walnut and pine."

Syria is believed to be the original home of the olive tree, as many scrolls and tablets mentioning olive were discovered in the ruins of the kingdom of Ebla. According to these findings, olive oil was presented as a gift to kings and champion athletes. Studies also confirm that the olive tree was cultivated since the third millennium BC, and that there were many olive farms in Syria and Palestine during that period.

H. Sabbagh / Mazen