Big demand for indigenous olive trees

A man who is trying to revive the olive oil industry in Malta is stunned by the amount of requests he is receiving for indigenous Maltese olive trees.

Sam Cremona, of Wardija, said that following a report in The Times last week, a person in Gozo has asked for some 2,000 trees and another person in the south of Malta wanted several hundred.

"The advantages of planting indigenous olive trees are several. The fruit ripens later, when the climate is a little cooler so it is less liable to suffer from infestations of insects. But the biggest advantage is that year after year one would be able to make oil of comparable quality. In other words, you could have a distinctive tasting olive oil like you can have a distinctive tasting merlot wine," Mr Cremona said.

"I am convinced that if we have 10,000 of each type of olive trees we are trying to propagate we can sell them within the first year. But we cannot run before we walk. Even having half of that amount would be difficult," he said.

Mr Cremona hopes that by next November, 5,000 Maltese olive trees would be grafted from the olive trees found in Lija, which are at least 1,600 years old and another 2,000 would be grafted from the Bidnija trees, which are also very old.

The olives from the Lija trees are suitable both for the table as well as for oil, pastes, spreads and sauces while the Bidnija olives are ideal for pressing.

Cuttings have to be taken in February, taken to an institute in Bari where they are checked to ensure they are virus-free and then grafted. The saplings are brought to Malta in November.

The first plantings of the first batch of 280 trees that have been grafted earlier this year is now imminent and five nurseries, two government and three private ones, have been identified for such purposes.

Mr Cremona said the harvest of Maltese olives has been very poor this year and as a result he had to scrap his project of trying to penetrate the market with half litre bottles of pure Maltese olive oil.

"This year we will not be selling any olive oil abroad because of the dearth of olives. There is a big demand overseas for Maltese olive oil and I cannot overstress the importance of curbing those who might be trying to pass as Maltese olive oil any oil that is pressed from imported olives," Mr Cremona said.