Editing Olive (section)

==History==
As one of the oldest cultivated trees on Earth,<ref>Liphschitz N., Gophna R., Hartman M., Biger G. The beginning of olive (Olea europaea) cultivation in the old world: a reassessment. Journal of Archaeological Science. 1991;18(4):441–453. doi: 10.1016/0305-4403(91)90037-p.</ref> the history of the olive is deeply intertwined with humans; its ecological success and expansion is largely the result of human activity rather than environmental conditions, with the tree's genetic and geographic trajectory directly reflecting the rise and fall of several civilizations.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Palli |first1=Jordan |last2=Tuscia |first2=University of |title=The olive landscape: A nearly 4,000-year-old legacy of human-nature interaction in the Central Mediterranean |url=https://phys.org/news/2025-03-olive-landscape-year-legacy-human.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=phys.org |language=en}}</ref> Owing to this deep relationship with humans, the olive has been disseminated well beyond its native range, spanning 28.6 million acres across 66 countries.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-10 |title=One-Third of Global Olive Oil Production Comes from Intensive Farming |url=https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/production/one-third-of-global-olive-oil-production-comes-from-intensive-farming/112809 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Olive Oil Times |language=en-US}}</ref> There were an estimated 865 million olive trees in the world in 2005, of which the vast majority were found in Mediterranean countries; traditionally marginal areas accounted for no more than 25% of olive-planted area and 10% of oil production.<ref>{{cite web |title=Olive Growing and Nursery Production |url=http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/projects/paginas/Section-a.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818161143/http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/projects/paginas/Section-a.htm |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=December 5, 2014 |publisher=International Olive Council}}</ref>  

===Mediterranean Basin===
Fossil evidence indicates that the olive tree had its origins 20&ndash;40 million years ago in the [[Oligocene]], in what now corresponds to Italy and the eastern Mediterranean Basin.<ref name="Therios">{{cite book |title=Olive Oil. Chemistry and Technology |editor-last=Boskou |editor-first=D. |publisher=AOCS Press |date=1996 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXqXXeHI_PcC&pg=PA1|title=Olives: Volume 18 of Crop Production Science in Horticulture (History of Olive Growing, page 1)|last=Therios|first=Ioannis Nikolaos|date=2009|publisher=CABI|isbn=978-1-84593-620-4}}</ref> Around 100,000 years ago, olives were used by humans in Africa, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, for fuel and most probably for consumption.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marquer |first1=L. |last2=Otto |first2=T. |last3=Arous |first3=E. Ben |last4=Stoetzel |first4=E. |last5=Campmas |first5=E. |last6=Zazzo |first6=A. |last7=Tombret |first7=O. |last8=Seim |first8=A. |last9=Kofler |first9=W. |last10=Falguères |first10=C. |last11=El Hajraoui |first11=M. Abdeljalil |date=2022-03-22 |title=The first use of olives in Africa around 100,000 years ago |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-022-01109-x |journal=Nature Plants |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=204–208 |doi=10.1038/s41477-022-01109-x |pmid=35318448 |bibcode=2022NatPl...8..204M |s2cid=247615211 |issn=2055-0278 |access-date=2022-03-30 |archive-date=2022-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331150928/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-022-01109-x |url-status=live }}</ref> Wild olive trees, or oleasters, have been collected in the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] since approximately 19,000 [[Before Present|BP]];{{sfn|Kislev et al.|1992|p={{page needed|date=April 2023}}}} the [[genome]] of cultivated olives reflects their origin from oleaster populations in the region.{{sfn|Besnard et al.|2002|p={{page needed|date=April 2023}}}}{{sfn|Besnard et al.|2013b|p={{page needed|date=April 2023}}}}{{sfn|Lumaret et al.|2004|p={{page needed|date=April 2023}}}}{{sfn|Baldoni et al.|2006|p={{page needed|date=April 2023}}}}{{sfn|Diez et al.|2015|p={{page needed|date=April 2023}}}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=John D. |title=Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean: Insights for Conservation |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198835141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lxT0DwAAQBAJ}}</ref> 

The olive plant was first cultivated in the Mediterranean between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Therios" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Di Giovacchino |first=Luciano |title=Handbook of Olive Oil: Analysis & Properties |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2013 |edition=2nd |location=New York |page=57 |chapter=3}}</ref> Domestication likely began in the [[Levant]], based on archeological findings in ancient tombs—including written tablets, olive pits, and olive wood fragments—as well as genetic analyses.<ref name="vossen" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Lanza |first=Fabrizia |title=Olive: a global history |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-86189-972-9 |location=London |page=15}}</ref><ref name=":1" />  

For thousands of years, olives were grown primarily for [[lamp oil]] rather than for culinary purposes,<ref name="vossen">{{cite journal |last=Vossen |first=Paul |title=Olive Oil: History, Production, and Characteristics of the World's Classic Oils |journal=HortScience |year=2007 |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=1093–1100|doi=10.21273/HORTSCI.42.5.1093 |doi-access=free }}</ref> as the natural fruit has an extremely bitter taste.<ref>Kanakis P., Termentzi A., Michel T., Gikas E., Halabalaki M., Skaltsounis A.-L. From olive drupes to olive Oil. An HPLC-orbitrap-based qualitative and quantitative exploration of olive key metabolites. Planta Medica. 2013;79(16):1576–1587. doi: 10.1055/s-0033-1350823</ref> It is very likely that the first mechanized agricultural methods and tools were those designed to produce olive oil;<ref>WORLD OLIVE ENCYCLOPAEDIA, International Olive Oil Council Principe de Vergara 154 28(X)2 Madrid (Spain), '''p. 24'''.</ref> the earliest olive oil production dates back some 6,500 years ago in coastal Israel.<ref>Galili E., Stanley D. J., Sharvit J., Weinstein-Evron M. Evidence for earliest olive-oil production in submerged settlements off the Carmel Coast, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science. 1997;24(12):1141–1150. doi: 10.1006/jasc.1997.0193</ref> As far back as 3000{{Nbsp}}BC, olives were grown commercially in [[Crete]] and may have been the main source of wealth for the [[Minoan civilization]].<ref name="gooch">{{cite journal |last=Gooch |first=Ellen |url=http://www.epikouria.com/issue1/10+1-things-olives.php |title=10+1 Things you may not know about olive oil |journal=Epikouria Magazine |issue=Fall/Spring |year=2005 |access-date=December 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208032145/http://www.epikouria.com/issue1/10+1-things-olives.php |archive-date=December 8, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

The exact ancestry of the cultivated olive is unknown. Fossil ''[[olea]]'' pollen has been found in [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] and other places around the Mediterranean, indicating that this genus is an original element of the Mediterranean flora. Fossilized leaves of ''olea'' were found in the [[paleosol|palaeosols]] of the volcanic Greek island of [[Santorini]] and dated to about 37,000 BP. Imprints of larvae of olive [[whitefly]] ''[[List of whitefly species|Aleurobus olivinus]]'' were found on the leaves. The same insect is commonly found today on olive leaves, showing that the plant-animal co-evolutionary relations have not changed since that time.<ref>Friedrich W.L. (1978). [http://www.therafoundation.org/articles/environmentflorafauna/fossilplantsfromweichselianinterstadialssantorinigreeceii Fossil plants from Weichselian interstadials, Santorini (Greece) II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719060330/http://www.therafoundation.org/articles/environmentflorafauna/fossilplantsfromweichselianinterstadialssantorinigreeceii |date=2011-07-19 }}, published in the "Thera and the Aegean World II", London, pp. 109–128. Retrieved on 2011-12-07.</ref> Other leaves found on the same island date back to 60,000 BP, making them the oldest known olives from the Mediterranean.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oliveoilmuseums.gr/ecportal.asp?id=55&nt=18&lang=2|title=Mediterranean Museums of Olive|website=www.oliveoilmuseums.gr|access-date=2016-05-22|archive-date=2016-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208070740/http://www.oliveoilmuseums.gr/ecportal.asp?id=55&nt=18&lang=2|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Expansion and propagation ====
In the 16th century BC, the [[Phoenicia|Phoenicians]]—a seafaring people native to the Levantine heartland where olives likely were first cultivated—started disseminating the olive throughout the Mediterranean. Owing to their dominance as traders, merchants, and mariners, they succeeded in spreading the olive to the [[Greek isles]], particularly Crete, later introducing it to the Greek mainland between the 14th and 12th centuries BC. Olive cultivation increased and gained great importance among the Greeks; Athenian statesman [[Solon]] (c. 630 – c. 560 BC) issued decrees regulating olive planting and encouraging its cultivation, particularly for export.<ref>Plutarch ''Solon'' 1 [[wikisource:Lives_(Dryden_translation)/Solon#1|s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#1]], [[wikisource:Lives_(Dryden_translation)/Solon#24|24.1]]</ref> Greek literature and mythology reflected the privileged and even sacred position of the olive, while leading thinkers and figures like Hippocrates, Homer, and [[Theophrastus]] observed its various positive properties and benefits.

While there is no evidence of olive cultivation in [[Mesopotamia]], olive wood appears as early as the mid [[3rd millennium BC|third millennium BC]], while the site of [[Emar]] in present-day Syria has olive wood and olive pits dating to the Middle [[Bronze Age]] (2000–1600 BC).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Deckers |first1=Katleen |last2=Riehl |first2=Simone |last3=Meadows |first3=Joseph |last4=Tumolo |first4=Valentina |last5=Hinojosa-Baliño |first5=Israel |last6=Lawrence |first6=Dan |date=2024 |title=A history of olive and grape cultivation in Southwest Asia using charcoal and seed remains |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=19 |issue=6 |pages=e0303578 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0303578 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=11189204 |pmid=38900727|bibcode=2024PLoSO..1903578D }}</ref> The [[Code of Hammurabi]], a compilation of laws and edicts made by the sixth king of the [[Old Babylonian Empire]], [[Hammurabi]] (reigning from <abbr>c.</abbr> 1792 to <abbr>c.</abbr> 1750 BC), makes repeated references to olive oil as a key commodity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Avalon Project : Code of Hammurabi |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu}}</ref> The [[Assyria|Assyrian Empire]] (858–627 BC) may have expanded into the southern Levant partly to secure control over lucrative olive oil production in the region.<ref>Van de Mieroop M. A history of the ancient Near East ca. ca. 3000 323 BC. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing; 2016.</ref>

From the sixth century BC onwards, the olive continued spreading toward the central and western Mediterranean through colonization and commerce, reaching Sicily, Libya, and Tunisia.  From there, it expanded into southern Italy among the various Etruscan, Sabine, and Italic peoples. The introduction of the olive tree to mainland Italy allegedly occurred during the reign of [[Lucius Tarquinius Priscus]] (616 – 578 BC), possibly from Tripoli (Libya) or Gabes (Tunisia). Cultivation moved as far upwards as [[Liguria]] near the border with France. When the Romans arrived in North Africa beginning in the second half of the first century BC, the native [[Berbers]] knew how to [[Grafting|graft]] wild olives and had highly developed its cultivation throughout the region.
[[File:Architrave with Frieze Adorned with Olive Branches & Tragic Mask (49350864306).jpg|thumb|276x276px|Roman [[architrave]] with [[frieze]] adorned with olive branches (c. first century AD).]]
The olive's expansion and cultivation reached its greatest extent through Rome's gradual conquest and settlement across virtually the entire Mediterranean; the Romans continued propagating the olive for commercial and agricultural purposes, as well as to assimilate local populations. It was introduced in present-day Marseille around 600 BC and spread from there to the whole of [[Gaul]] (modern France). The olive tree made its appearance in [[Sardinia]] following Roman conquest in the third century BC, though it may not have reached nearby Corsica until after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of the western Roman Empire]] in the fifth century AD.

Although olive growing was introduced to Spain by the Phoenicians some time in 1050 BC, it did not reach a larger scale until the arrival of [[Scipio Africanus|Scipio]] (212 BC) during the Second Punic War against Carthage. After the [[Third Punic War]] (149 – 146 BC), olives occupied a large stretch of the [[Hispania Baetica|Baetica]] valley in southwest Spain and spread towards the central and Mediterranean coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal. Through the second century AD, this region would become the largest source of olives and olive oil within the empire.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Olives and Olive Oil in Ancient Rome {{!}} UNRV Roman History |url=https://www.unrv.com/economy/olives-and-olive-oil.php |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=www.unrv.com}}</ref> Olive became a core part of the Roman diet, and by extension a major economic pillar; the cultivation, harvesting, and trade in olives and their derived goods sustained many livelihoods and regions. The emperor [[Hadrian]] (117 – 138 AD) passed laws prompting olive cultivation by exempting individuals who grew olive trees from rent payments on their land for ten years.<ref name=":8" />

The degree to which the olive benefited from the Romans is demonstrated by the significant decline in olive planting and olive oil production that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire.<ref>Julie Angus, Olive Odyssey: searching for the secrets of the fruit that seduced the world. ISBN 9781553655145. '''P. 80.'''</ref> Beginning in the early eighth century AD, Muslim Arabs and North Africans brought their own varieties of olives during their [[Al-Andalus|conquest of Iberia]], reinvigorating and expanding olive growing throughout the peninsula. The spread and importance of olives during subsequent Islamic rule is reflected in the [[Arabic language influence on the Spanish language|Arabic roots of the Spanish words]] for olive (''aceituna''), oil (''aceite''), and wild olive tree (''acebuche'') and the Portuguese words for olive (''azeitona'') and olive oil (''azeite'').

===Outside the Mediterranean===
The olive is not native outside the Mediterranean Basin, although various wild subspecies are endemic throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, [[South Arabia|southern Arabia]], and central and south Asia.<ref name=":9">Besnard G, Terral JF, Cornille A. [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5838823/ On the origins and domestication of the olive: a review and perspectives]. Ann Bot. 2018 Mar 5;121(3):385-403. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcx145. Erratum in: Ann Bot. 2018 Mar 5;121(3):587-588. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcy002. PMID: 29293871; PMCID: PMC5838823.</ref> Beyond its immediate native range, the cultivated olive historically spread across [[West Asia]] through southwest China, and into parts of southern Egypt, northeast Sudan, the [[Canary Islands]], and possibly the mountains of the [[Sahara]].<ref name=":9" /> Olive domestication is present on every inhabited continent due human introduction.[[File:21-alimenti, olio,Taccuino Sanitatis, Casanatense 4182..jpg|thumb|Storing olives on [[Dere Street]]; ''[[Tacuinum Sanitatis]]'', 14th century]]

==== Americas ====
Spanish colonists brought the olive to the [[New World]] in the 18th century, where its cultivation prospered in present-day Peru, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina. The first seedlings from Spain were planted in [[Lima]] by Antonio de Rivera in 1560. Olive tree cultivation quickly spread along the valleys of South America's dry Pacific coast where the climate is similar to the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequencies of 1492 |author=Crosby, Alfred W. |page=73 |year=2003 |publisher=Praeger |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=978-0-27598-092-4}}</ref> 

Spanish missionaries established the olive tree in [[California]] between 1769 and 1795 at [[Mission San Diego de Alcalá]]. Orchards were started at other missions, but by 1838, only two olive orchards were confirmed in California. Cultivation for oil gradually became a highly successful commercial venture from the 1860s onward.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Carter, Nancy Carol |url=https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v54-3/pdf/v54-3carter.pdf |year=2008 |title=San Diego Olives: Origins of a California Industry |journal=The Journal of San Diego History |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=138–140 |access-date=2017-05-03 |archive-date=2016-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831181343/https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v54-3/pdf/v54-3carter.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Pierce-1897">{{cite book | last=Pierce | first=Newton B. | author-link=Newton Barris Pierce | title=Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture 1896 | publisher=[[United States Department of Agriculture]] ([[U.S. Government Printing Office]]) | year=1897 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=biIZAQAAIAAJ | oclc=1027034631 | chapter=Olive culture in the United States | pages=371–390}}</ref>  

Olive growing in the United States is primarily concentrated in warmer regions like California, Texas,<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWilliams |first=James |date=2015-07-23 |title=The Other Oil Boom |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/the-other-oil-boom/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=Texas Monthly |language=en-US}}</ref> New Mexico, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida. California is by far the largest olive producer in the U.S., accounting for 95 percent of domestic olives;<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |title=Olives |url=https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/fruits/olives |website=Agricultural Marketing Research Center}}</ref> as of 2021, there are roughly 36,000 acres under olive cultivation in the U.S.,<ref name=":10" /> of which about 35,000 acres are in California.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-20 |title=Olive trees offer gnarly, timeless beauty |url=https://www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/tblanchard/articles/page1568990740177#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States,%20olives%20grow%20well,way%20south%20to%20Georgia,%20Florida%20and%20Texas. |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=LSU AgCenter |language=en}}</ref> However, the industry is also expanding into the southeastern U.S., with Florida and Georgia experiencing growth in olive farming.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-18 |title=America's Tuscany: 9 Amazing Olive Oil Orchards to Visit in the U.S. |url=https://www.afar.com/magazine/americas-tuscany-9-amazing-olive-oil-orchards-to-visit-in-the-us |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=AFAR Media |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":10" /> 

==== Asia ====
Olive trees were successfully introduced in Japan in 1908 on [[Shōdoshima|Shodo Island]]; located in the [[Seto Inland Sea]], the island has a moderate climate characterized by stable year-round temperature and relatively low rainfall. It became the cradle of olive cultivation in Japan,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.town.shodoshima.lg.jp/en/index.html |title=Shodoshima Town |website=shodoshima.lg.jp |access-date=2012-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907230150/http://www.town.shodoshima.lg.jp/en/index.html |archive-date=2017-09-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> accounting for over 95% of the country's total production,<ref name="Olive Oil Times">{{cite web |last=Argentino |first=Christopher |url=https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/production/tracking-the-rise-of-olive-oil-in-japan/120816 |title=Tracking the Rise of Olive Oil in Japan |website=[[Olive Oil Times]] |date=2023-06-12 |access-date=2025-03-28}}</ref> and earning the nickname "Olive Island".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Hachisu |first=Nancy Singleton |date=2015-10-30 |title=The island making Japan's best olive oil |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2015/10/30/food/island-making-japans-best-olive-oil/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=The Japan Times |language=en}}</ref> Olives play a central role in the local culture and economy, with the island's mascot and tourism merchandise reflecting olive themes.<ref name=":0" /> Olive cultivation has spread to other regions in Japan, namely neighboring [[Kagawa Prefecture|Kagawa]] and [[Okayama Prefecture|Okayama]] and nearby [[Kyushu]].<ref name="Olive Oil Times" /> The vast majority of Japanese growers are small-scale farmers.<ref name="Olive Oil Times" />

Since 2010,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-09-27 |title=Pakistan Makes Plans for Olive Oil Production |url=https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/production/pakistan-plans-olive-oil-production/20523 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Olive Oil Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Pakistan has been pursuing large scale commercial olive production, which it identified as a strategic national priority to reduce dependence on foreign oils and expand economic opportunity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-20 |title=Pakistan Bets Big on Local Olive Oil Production |url=https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/production/pakistan-bets-big-on-local-olive-oil-production/81123 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Olive Oil Times |language=en-US}}</ref> As part of the national Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project launched in 2019, which aimed to plant 10 billion trees to mitigate climate change and environmental degradation,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-02 |title=Pakistan's Ten Billion Tree Tsunami |url=https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/pakistans-ten-billion-tree-tsunami |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=www.unep.org |language=en}}</ref> the [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] provincial government planted thousands of olives to symbolize peace and provide commercial opportunities in the war-torn region.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-28 |title=In Pakistan, Efforts to Grow Olives in Underdeveloped Areas Begin to Bear Fruit |url=https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/in-pakistan-efforts-to-grow-olives-in-underdeveloped-areas-begin-to-bear-fruit/105533 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Olive Oil Times |language=en-US}}</ref> By 2020, with the help of experts from Spain and Italy, Pakistan imported thousands of trees and identified 10 million acres for growing olives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-20 |title=Pakistan Bets Big on Local Olive Oil Production |url=https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/production/pakistan-bets-big-on-local-olive-oil-production/81123 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Olive Oil Times |language=en-US}}</ref> The following year, the federal [[Ministry of Climate Change (Pakistan)|Ministry of Climate Change]] launched the Olive Trees Tsunami Project to plant nearly 10 million hectares of olive trees. In 2022, Pakistan announced its intention to join the International Olive Council as part of ongoing efforts to develop its domestic olive industry.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-11 |title=Pakistan Set to Become Olive Council Member |url=https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/pakistan-to-become-olive-council-member/105121 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Olive Oil Times |language=en-US}}</ref> As of January 2025, the country had 5.6 million cultivated olive trees, with 500,000 to 800,000 new trees planted annually, as well as 80 million wild olive trees.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |date=2025-01-13 |title=Pakistani Province of Punjab Announces Plan to Plant 50M Olive Trees |url=https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/asia/pakistani-province-of-punjab-announces-plan-to-plant-50m-olive-trees/136504 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Olive Oil Times |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] province plans to plant 50 million olive trees on about 9.8 million acres by 2026.<ref name=":11" />

Commercial [[Olive production in India|olive oil production started in India]] in 2016, following the planting of olive saplings imported from Israel in [[Rajasthan]]'s [[Thar Desert]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/an-agri-marvel-takes-root-in-thar-sands/cid/1458888 | title=An agri marvel takes root in Thar sands | work=[[The Telegraph (India)|The Telegraph]] | date=31 October 2016 | accessdate=3 March 2023 | author=Chowdhury, Jayanta Roy | archive-date=10 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410081701/https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/an-agri-marvel-takes-root-in-thar-sands/cid/1458888 | url-status=live }}</ref> Production was spearheaded by Rajasthan Olive Cultivation Limited, a state government-funded agency that offered subsidies and incentives for growing olives, with support from Israeli experts.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-07-16 |title=India's plan to become a leading olive oil producer |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-23123801 |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Olive farms continued expanding into 2020 but saw a precipitous decline in size and production volume by 2023, due to the difficult climate and declining government interest and support.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-01-06 |title=Olive rush dries up in Rajasthan, but dreams are alive |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/olive-rush-dries-up-in-rajasthan-but-dreams-are-alive/articleshow/116973791.cms |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> 

==== Global expansion ====
Amid ongoing [[Climate change|climate warming]], several small-scale olive production farms have also been established at fairly high latitudes in Europe and North America since the early 21st century, including in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Das nördlichste Olivenöl der Welt |trans-title=The northernmost olive oil in the world |url=https://www.obst-und-garten.de/das-noerdlichste-olivenoel-der-welt,QUlEPTY3MzQyMzYmTUlEPTEwMDAx.html |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=Obst & Garten |date=26 November 2020 |language=de |archive-date=2023-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228172422/https://www.obst-und-garten.de/Das-noerdlichste-Olivenoel-der-Welt,QUlEPTY3MzQyMzYmTUlEPTEwMDAx.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/britain-s-first-olive-grove-is-a-sign-of-our-hotter-times-6097129.html | title=Britain's first olive grove is a sign of our hotter times | work=[[The Independent]] | accessdate=3 March 2023 | author=McCarthy, Michael | archive-date=10 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410081829/https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/britain-s-first-olive-grove-is-a-sign-of-our-hotter-times-6097129.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/first-welsh-olive-grove-planted-2262852 | title=First Welsh olive grove planted on Anglesey | work=[[WalesOnline]] | date=30 April 2007 | accessdate=3 March 2023 | archive-date=6 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406122059/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/first-welsh-olive-grove-planted-2262852 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/canadian-farmer-succeeds-with-olives-and-gives-kelp-seaweed-some-of-the-credit/47124|title=Canadian Farmer Succeeds with Olives and Gives Kelp Seaweed Some of the Credit|last=Adams|first=Barbara|date=2015-03-26|work=Olive Oil Times|access-date=2023-03-05|archive-date=2017-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224054644/https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/canadian-farmer-succeeds-with-olives-and-gives-kelp-seaweed-some-of-the-credit/47124|url-status=live}}</ref>