SKRADIN, March 23 (Hina) - The Croatian Forests (HS) company last week started planting the biggest olive grove in Dalmatia with 4,000 trees on 12 hectares at the site called Vlaka near Skradin, the Sibenik hinterland.
SKRADIN, March 23 (Hina) - The Croatian Forests (HS) company last
week started planting the biggest olive grove in Dalmatia with
4,000 trees on 12 hectares at the site called Vlaka near Skradin,
the Sibenik hinterland. #L#
The project, worth some 2.4 million kuna, has been drawn up by the
Split-based institute for Mediterranean cultures and the
improvement of the Krast soil.
At a news conference held on the occasion of the beginning of the
planting at Vlaka, the Croatian Forests' chief executive officer,
Zeljko Ledvinski, and the institute's head, Slavko Perica, spoke of
the importance of this project.
The HS company sees multiple benefits from this endeavour. The
planting of an olive grove diminishes chances for the outbreak of
bush fires, it helps improve the quality of the soil and contributes
to bids to preserve and cultivate the indigenous local vegetation.
Perica expects that the olive grove will yield 100,000 kilograms of
olives after five to six years when earnings may come to one million
kuna.
This is the first olive grove planted by the HS company which came to
such an idea after pine forests planted in the said area were
engulfed by flames a few times.
The World Bank has financially assisted in the setting of olive
groves in Dalmatia since 1999.
Thanks to its favourable loan, olive trees have so far been set or
old olive groves renovated on a total of 825 hectares, but those
projects have been conducted on private land or in cooperation with
some 1,800 family farms, the HS director Ledvinski added.
The HS is planning to cover 1,200 hectares of soil with olive
trees.
(1 EUR = 7.6 kuna)
(hina) ms
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