A new country producer of olive oil: Armenia

Armenia entered the list of 47 countries producing olive oil last year,  but probably the history of olive tree in Armenian land isn’t so recent, as this small country is often considered as one of the places of origin of olive tree.

Currently the use of olive oil is not so common for Armenians but the great number of people of Middle eastern origin living there, coming especially from Syria recently because of the ongoing conflicts, made olive oil consumption quite wider in the Near-Asian country. Nowadays almost the totality of olives and olive oil for internal consumption is imported, but in Meghri district, close to the Iranian border several trials were attempted by few pioneers.
For long years none believed that olive tree could survive the low temperatures of Armenian winters and give fruits. But Karo Karapetyan didn’t agree with this opinion and went on planting 7ha of olive groves. In 2003 he planted more than 7.000 Ascolana and Sevillano variety trees. He was very patient and, despite the loss of numerous trees caused by the chill of Armenian winter, temperatures could reach -30° C,  and by the hail, he finally succeeded in making his first harvest in 2010. Each tree is reported to have a yield of about 20-30 kg of olives. This brave farmer found not easy to market his products initially but, shortly after, he started packing and selling his olives.
This farmer is strongly convinced that olive is an adaptable tree and for this reason he believes it could grow up and give fruits even in Armenia.  Probably this Southern area of the country is a suitable comfort-zone for olive growing but some luck and not very cold winters are essentials to achieve a good harvest.
The enthusiasm of this man and his ability to go through difficulties  is a beautiful signal of the laboriousness and willingness of people of this country and maybe a signal of hope for a future as a producer of olive oil for Armenia.

Sources

Asbarez-  http://asbarez.com/110702/the-olive-tree-and-armenia/

Yerkir Media-  http://www.yerkirmedia.am/?act=news&lan=en&id=8081