IZHAR GenCultiva is a premium horticulture biotechnology enterprise dedicated to advancing modern agriculture through scientific excellence, biotechnology, and innovation. For the first time in Pakistan, Izhar Group has initiated plantations of Olives and Grapes in Potohar Region of Punjab, Pakistan. Pakistan has never been known for growing olives as generally olives are believed to be a produce of Mediterranean region. The agriculture farm is named Izhar Farms (Pvt.) is also called Kalar Kahar Farms or KK Farms, synonymous to the well-known mountains of Kallar Kahar. it is located at 6 km on Talagang – Kalar Kahar road, comprising almost 550 acres of land. It is one of the most difficult lands for cultivation because of the uneven mountainous landscape. There is a water channel flowing south to north through the farm lands, is known as Ghabir. Izhar has developed water wells in this river bed which is the source of water round the year. To irrigate the farm, water is lifted through various pumps from the wells. A state of the art drip irrigation system is laid out to irrigate its plants. Water storage tanks at hill tops keeps water available for the drip system to feed each and every plant on the farm. For the last 7 years, almost 50,000 Olive plants and Grapevines have been planted. Other fruits such as Peaches, Almonds, Citrus, Nectrum , Fig and more are grown on experimental basis. The world famous Spanish, Italian, Greek and Tunisian varieties of Olive plants were selected for plantation. Intensive research and development works including nursery propagation, drip irrigation, land development / preparation and all other aspects of modern farm were taken into account. For our own plant requirement, nurseries were developed, that provide certified olive plants and grapevines. A target of 50,000 numbers of plants each of Olives and Grapes will be reached in next two years. What Izhar has done was not an easy feat. It has shown that barren, hilly, marginal lands can be converted into productive lands. One of the factors that made it happen was the engineering and construction background of Izhar Group. With Patience, dedication, commitment, hard work and above all Allah’s blessing, Izhar Group has shown that Olives can be grown on barren and marginal lands of Pakistan, an area which was never known for olive growth. Pakistan consumes almost 4,000 tons of Olive oil per year. The demand is met through imports whereas local olive oil extraction is in research and development stage.
