Olive Growing in Jordan

The olive sector is one of the most important sectors in Jordan due to the large volume of investment it attracts, estimated at more than 1000 million Jordanian dinars in 2010. It is one of the oldest historic olive habitats in the world and the olive tree is considered to be an important part of Jordanian heritage.

The Middle East has been cultivated with olive trees for olive oil production for over 6 000 years. The earliest evidence of olive stones from settled sites in the Levant can be dated back to the Neptunium period, more than 10 000 years ago. Jordan is home to some of the oldest olive trees in the world, as evidenced by the studies of a French-Jordanian team of archaeologists in 2008, proving that the south Jordan Wadi Rum has been planted with olives trees since 5400 BC. The diversity of Jordan’s olive cultivars and the variation in its climate give its olive oil a number of unique characteristics and tastes.

Olive growing is spread over two regions of the country, in the west and north-east. According to sources in the Department of Statistics of Jordan, the olive growing area (12 million trees) covers 24% of Jordan’s total arable surface area, accounting for 74% of the surface planted with fruit trees. The olive tree has always been given special attention and care in this country, as seen in its growing olive acreage, which reached 640 dunums in 2016, (64 000 ha). Average annual olive production over the last five years is of 151 000 tonnes (t), while olive oil production (Graph I) is of approximately 23000t and the average production of table olives (Graph III) is of 27 000 t.

As of the year 2000, Jordan achieved self-sufficiency in the production of both olive oil and table olives, reaching a record high of 37 000 t of olive oil in the 2006/07 crop year (Graph I). Most of this production is consumed nationally, where average annual consumption stands at 2.5kg/person. Any remaining production is exported to its main markets (Graph II) Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, among others.

Some thirty different varieties of olive trees can be found in Jordan and they are can all be used to produce extra virgin oil of an excellent quality. Most of the olive trees planted in Jordan are dual purpose varieties used for the production of both olive oil and table olives. The predominant local varieties of olives are Nabali, Rasie Nassohi and Souri, which have been grown in the country for centuries. The Souri variety produces oil with an intense fruity aroma with very good and distinct organoleptic characteristics. Each variety produces different characteristics of olive oil. The non-native varieties of olive tree that are grown in Jordan are Gordal, Manzanilla, Arbequina and Picual (Spain); Ascolano, Frantoio and Leccino (Italy); Chemlali (Tunisia); Kalamata (Greece) and Barnea, K-18 (Palestine).