Utilizing the olive trees for developing green area in kurdistan – IJAAR

Jamil Jalal Mohammed Ali, Soran Hama Amin, Sherwan Omer Rashed, Ibrahim Maaroof Noori

Department of Geography, School of Humanities, Faculty of Humanities, University of Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Key words: Olive trees, Re-vegetation, Rocky soils, Rainfall requirement.

Abstract

Olive trees native to the Middle East and Iraqi Kurdistan region, it can survive severe ecosystems including sandy and rocky soils with high calcite content and extreme temperature fluctuations between -7°C up to +45°C giving yields even with minimum rainfall requirement. Results show that olive is currently grown in a very limited area of less than 250 ha, under drip irrigation system, which mostly depended on supply of water from ground water in Sulaymaniyah governorate. In contrast, 90% of the world’s olive is dependent on precipitation. In addition, olive can grow and survive minimum rainfall of 300 mm and give satisfactory yields with rainfall of 500 mm without irrigation. The majority of olive fields were established in best fertile agricultural lands. Meanwhile, the aforementioned lands are rich with montmorillonite, which swells when it is moisten and shrinks when it is dry. Therefore, resulting in deep cracks in the soil which causes breaking down of the roots and weakening of the trees. The total rainfall in Sulaymaniyah governorate, during the last 72 years (1941 to 2013), had dropped down below the minimum rainfall requirements for olive growing. This makes olive trees suitable and economic for utilizing sandy and rocky soils. Therefore, olive has a great role in the re-vegetation process of severe ecosystems and should be included in any program of renewing the Kurdistan region forest and developing green area which encourage the tourism in the Region and helping in beautifying and purifying the atmosphere from the poisonous gases.