Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) set up a chemical and molecular analysis laboratory for the identification, analysis, and registration of local fruit species, particularly local olive tree species, in Tunisia’s National Gene Bank, associated with the Ministry of Environment of Tunisia.
The TKA project aims to protect olive trees for future generations, boost the added value, and secure the conservation of olive, which contributes significantly to Tunisia’s agricultural production and exports.
The project will be divided into four phases: the precise location of local olive species and their harvest (first phase), their morphological and characterising analyses (second phase), their registration in the database and labelling (third phase), and the cultivation of high-yielding olive species in nurseries and distribution of these saplings (fourth and final phase).
A greenhouse will be constructed in the second phase of the project, which aims to boost the added value of olive and olive oil production in Tunisia, in order to grow and distribute these olive saplings.
In Tunisia, TKA has completed more than 30 agricultural projects and initiatives. The Agency continues to create initiatives in this sector, which employs the greatest percentage of people.