About 5,000 tons of olive oil is annually imported, the major part of which in fact is olive pomace oil –made from the residue left after producing virgin olive oil using industrial solvents – and of very low quality, said the executive of Ministry of Agricultural Jihad’s Olive Project. “Olive pomace oil, the consumption of which is hazardous, enters the country via Turkey at cheap prices and is then mixed with other types of oil and sold under different names,” IRNA quoted Mohammad Ramezani Malekroudi as saying. Referring to the huge potential in domestic olive oil production, he said: “There are about 100,000 hectares of olive farms in Iran with 60% of them currently active.” Considering the shortage of water in Iran and olive trees low water requirement, the official suggested growing olive to replace water-intensive crops such as watermelon.
