More than 190 farms provide olive oil in Al-Bahah Region to local markets, thanks to the fact that the region is known for its fertile agricultural soil and its elevation of over 2,270 above sea level. Olive farmers in Al-Bahah are busy these days cultivating the products of their trees whose number exceed 30,000 olive trees of 22 kinds, before their produce is sent to olive pressers in Al-Bahah City, which give them the choice of producing oil or pickling their products. Director General of the branch of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Fahd Al-Zahrani said that producing olive and olive oil is among important agricultural activities in Al-Bahah that is known for a geographical diversity that suits several crops. Citing opinions of experts in the ministry, Al-Bahah is considered a suitable and promising area for planting blackberries, where the ministry seeks to change Al-Bahah into one of the most important areas producing blackberries in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to increase the level of its economic impacts on farmers and beekeepers, especially that this product enjoys big numbers of flowers with high quality. Al-Zahrani noted that the region houses more than 190 olive farms, in addition to having 380 contemporary small farms, stressing that the coming days will witness the launch of the second olive festival in Al-Bahah to promote and market the product and stimulate farmers to plant more olive trees for their economic, health and environmental benefits that were main reasons for the spread of planting olive trees across the world.
