JALALABAD - Local officials in eastern Nangarhar province on Tuesday said latest machines provided by Italy have been installed and activated at the Olive Processing Factory.
The officials said the machines would help improve quality of olive oil and pickles besides increasing production.
The machines costing 70 million Euros had arrived at the factory previously and their installation was inaugurated on Monday by officials of the agriculture ministry.
Hasmatullah Ghafor, deputy agriculture minister, during the inauguration ceremony of the machines, said that the Olive Processing Factory in Nangarhar was the first factory in Asia that supplied olive oil, pickles and other similar products to domestic and foreign markets.
He said the machines had the ability to process 700 kilograms of olive oil per hour. He said that 87,000 kilograms of olive produced 7,200 kilograms of live oil and also offered thousands of small and big size bottles of pickles to the market.
Ghafor saidthat besides Nangarhar, olive from Kandahar and other provinces was also processed in the factory. He hoped the factory would be able to revive its past glory.
Nangarhar Olive Processing Factory was built four decades ago and thousands of people would work in it. Currently around 150 people run the factory. (Pajhwok)