The demand for olives, a time-honored and health-boosting product, is increasing worldwide.

Hüseyin Karanfiloğlu, an Agricultural Engineer at the Agricultural Research Institute, stated that the 2024 olive harvest in the TRNC has reached approximately 9,000 to 10,000 tons, similar to last year’s yield.

In an interview with Turkish News Agency (TAK), Karanfiloğlu emphasized that global demand for olives remains strong.

He pointed out that Italy, a major producer, has struggled to meet demand in recent years due to disease outbreaks, leading to skyrocketing olive and olive oil prices, especially in the Far East markets.

He noted that global olive production has dropped by 1m tons in recent years due to disease-related declines.

In the TRNC, 500 tons of the 2024 yield has been allocated for table olives, while the rest is used for olive oil production.

Karanfiloğlu highlighted that 20 years ago, the annual harvest was around 3,000 to 5,000 tons, but with an increase in the number of trees and the introduction of regular irrigation, production reached 10,000 tons in 2010 and hit a record 15,000 tons in 2019.

He stressed the importance of irrigation in increasing yield, stating that each olive tree requires 800 liters of water per year.

Despite the İskele-Karpaz region having 185,000 olive trees, the highest production was recorded in Güzelyurt with 55,000 trees, followed by Lefke with 52,000 trees.

Unlike the citrus industry, no market difficulties are expected for olives, as global demand remains high, provided the product is of good quality.

Karanfiloğlu also shared insights on the “Ada Yerlisi”, the TRNC’s first and only registered olive variety, highlighting its importance for local agriculture.