Ajlun Agriculture Directorate continues its tours to ensure olive presses are ready for the season
Ajloun3 min read
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The Ajlun Agriculture Directorate is continuing its field tours of olive presses across various areas of the governorate to ensure their readiness for the olive harvesting season and to verify their compliance with licensing terms, requirements, and regulations governing the operation of the presses.
Ajlun Agriculture Director, Engineer Saitan Al-Sarhan, stated that the presence of 15 modern presses distributed across the governorate's various regions reflects the extent of expansion in olive cultivation in Ajlun and affirms the sector's commitment to keeping pace with technological developments and applying the best standards to serve farmers and produce high-quality olive oil with distinct specifications at both the local and regional levels.
He emphasized that periodic monitoring and follow-up work on the presses will continue, aiming to ensure their compliance with health and technical requirements and approved guidelines to preserve product quality and consumer safety.
He pointed out that the committee formed in the governorate to inspect olive presses—which includes representatives from the governorate, the directorates of agriculture, environment, food and drug, municipal affairs, and water—is continuing its field work to assess the presses' preparations for the season and ensure they meet licensing conditions according to approved criteria.
Al-Sarhan noted that olive-milling operations in Ajlun have witnessed a qualitative technological leap in recent years, with modern presses contributing to reducing time and effort, eliminating long hours of manual labor, and completing the milling process efficiently and swiftly. This has reflected positively on increasing productivity, improving oil extraction efficiency, and reducing waste compared to traditional methods. He added that modern technologies also contribute to improving the quality and purity of olive oil by controlling temperatures during the milling process, enhancing cleanliness levels, and adhering to approved health and technical standards.
He said the Agriculture Directorate expects the governorate's production of olive fruits during the current season to reach about 43,000 tons, noting that initial indicators point to a promising season in light of the amounts of rainfall recorded in the governorate during the past winter season, which reached about 600
mm.
He explained that the areas planted with olive trees in Ajlun Governorate amount to about 86,000 dunums, pointing out that the directorate has implemented a number of spraying campaigns targeting outbreak areas of agricultural pests on some olive trees, alongside distributing more than 3,000 food traps and 3,000 colored attractant traps as part of an integrated pest management program to limit pest damage and reduce reliance on chemical pesticides.
Al-Sarhan urged farmers to stop using chemical pesticides on olive trees during this period and prior to the start of the harvesting season, in order to preserve the safety of the fruit and the quality of the oil, and to prevent any chemical residues that could affect the product's safety and specifications. He stressed the importance of farmers adhering to technical recommendations and guidelines issued by the Agriculture Directorate, relying on safe control methods and sound agricultural practices to help maintain the quality of the olive crop and its oil and enhance its competitiveness in markets.
