Olive production in Montenegro recently got the sort of push promotion that locals and the political elite have long been waiting on to accelerate this hugely potential industry. The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) recently announced partnership efforts to help Montenegro advance its olive production in order to penetrate world markets more effectively.
According to TIKA, the agency opened an olive oil production plant in Montenegro’s coastal city of Ulcinj in the village of Pistula to support farmers in areas with the capacity of producing 200 tons of olive oil per season.
It’s a long well-known fact that the methods and technologies used in the production of olive oil in Montenegro are a little backward in comparison to today’s standards, and this situation affects the income level and life standards of oil producers negatively despite the existence of suitable lands.
TIKA’s support of olive production in Montenegro is taking place under the project, "The Balkans and Eastern European Countries Food and Life Security Support Program”, which aims at enabling food production and delivering services compatible with those in other world markets.
Right now, TIKA is organizing a training program for the ‘Maslinari Pistule’ olive producers association in Montenegro regarding periodicity, which has an adverse effect on the olive yield. The training provided by TIKA would cover the topics of olive production, fertilization, applied pruning, irrigation, and fighting against olive diseases and pests. Members of the association would be given training on producing products apart from olive oil, such as table olives and traditional olive soaps. The training program will be supported with Turkish technologies used in the field, which are considered flagship standard bearers in international markets.
