The Centre of Excellence for Olive Research and Training (CEFORT) located at Chakwal aims at strengthening R&D on olives in public sector. Major objectives of the institute are as under:
To develop capabilities & capacities in Punjab for olive cultivation, management, post- harvest, processing and value addition/product development
To develop & adapt technologies for development of olive sector in Punjab through on-station and farmer participatory research
To act as a repository of olive genetic resources and their management
To undertake socio-economic research in olive crop
Future Plan
Establishment of 3 state of the art research labs, namely Olive Oil Quality Lab, Value Addition / Product Development Lab and Disease Diagnostic / IPM Lab.
Develop and implement a demand-driven research program with provision for regular review by relevant experts (Research Experiments/Trials).
Establish linkages with relevant National & International R&D organizations
Import of promising exotic olive Germplasm (10 genotypes) accompanied with DNA fingerprint/genetic profile.
Organize training of trainers in olive culture (100 master trainers/Olive Service Providers/Extension agents.
Extend advisory services to farmers and stakeholders including ICT tools
