The average oil production is 5,500 ton …farmers in the eastern Hama countryside continue to press olives

Farmers in the eastern Hama countryside continue to press the olive crop through five presses, distributed in a number of regions, while estimates indicate that the average oil production may be 5,500 tons.

Work was monitored in a number of olive presses in the region, where the olive crop is received from farmers, pressed and then virgin olive oil is finally extracted , which has high specifications and quality, according to Muhammad Melhem, owner of one of the presses in the city of Salamiyah.

Melhem explained that the process of pressing olives and filtering their oil is done in a technical manner, where small particles are removed and the oil is kept in special tanks, in preparation for filling it in plastic containers.He pointed out that the olive oil resulting from this process is of high quality.He also pointed out that the olive oil produced in the region of Al-Salamiyah is characterized by a lack of oxidation, where its acidity does not even exceed one percent.

Tariq Jabr, who is in charge of an olive press in the village of Umm al-Amad in the Salamiyah countryside, pointed out that after the farmers transport the olives to the press, the olives are purified and washed to get rid of the impurities and clay stuck to them, before the fruits enter the mill that grinds them to a consistency like dough, in order to benefit from the resulting juice ,and to ensure the highest percentage of oil extracted from it.He indicated that the olive paste goes through several stages of pressing, sorting and then separating the olive remains, such as pyrene and others, to obtain pure and clear oil.

As for the Director of the Salamiya Agriculture Department, Osama Suwaidan, he explained that the department estimated the total production of the olive crop in the Salamiyah region, for this season, is 30,500 tons, while the areas of land cultivated with olive trees in the region exceed 133,700 dunums, where about 122 thousand dunums of which are irrigated with rain and the rest is irrigated manually.

Leen Al Salman