A Zest For Zeytoons

• An ambitious experiment to grow olives is under way in Rajasthan
  
• Under Israeli supervision, 1,00,000 saplings of high-yielding olives from Israel were planted in seven locations
  
• Measures have been taken to protect the saplings from harsh desert winds and sun. They should bear fruit in 2 years.
  
• The project is a collaboration between the state government and private Israeli and Indian companies
  
• Domestic demand for olive oil is growing fast in India. Between 2006-07, imports grew by 53 per cent.

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The low costs and high hopes are exciting interest among the farmers in the area. Virendra Singh has come with his friends from Gardana Kalan, a village a few kilometres away from Basbisna, to see how things are going. He plans to plant olives on his six hectares of land if the Basbisna experiment is successful. The rows of olive trees are 7 metres apart, so that farmers can grow groundnuts on the land between the rows and start earning from the land even before the olives bear fruit. It takes three-and-a-half years before an olive tree starts bearing fruit, after which it keeps producing for hundreds of years. Farmers in Basbisna and six other olive plantations have another two years to wait until they can see—and sell—their first olives.

The olives under cultivation by ROCL have already been pre-bought by an Israeli company called Indo-Olive, which will set up an oil pressing plant and sell the olive oil overseas. They're also counting on a growing demand for olive oil, with its much-touted health and gourmet qualities, in the Indian market. India imported 1,500 tonnes of olive oil in 2006, and in 2007, the amount went up to 2,300 tonnes—a 53 per cent growth in just one year. This growth in domestic demand is what's exciting aspiring farmers and the ROCL "We've already been in touch with the Indian Olive Oil Association, a group of olive oil importers," says Shekhawat.

But there are formidable challenges ahead. Fifteen years ago, Thakur Ram Pratap Singh imported olive saplings from Israel and planted them on his land in Ramgarh, near Sikar, but they swiftly shrivelled up and died. Temperatures in the Israeli desert only reach 40°C, while those in Rajasthan hit 49°C, with the heat intensified by strong winds. "In my case, the olive trees flowered in April-May," says Singh, "just as the hot wind started blowing, and they literally singed off the trees." This time, Rajasthan's seven olive plantations have taken special care to protect their trees from the harsh climate. Apart from specially built bamboo supports for the trees and sensors that monitor the health of each plant, all the plantations are on undulating land, surrounded by scrub jungle which provides additional insulation from the heat and wind. "Everything is now in place for us to succeed," says Peleg happily. If he's right, two years from now, your martini would still be imported, but the olive in it may well be from the sand of Thar.