About 40 children from Avis, in the Portalegre district, will be part of a project that assigns each one an olive tree, allowing them to receive the olive oil produced by that tree until they turn 18. The initiative was born from a partnership agreement between agricultural engineer and young farmer João Varela, 30 years old, from the village of Ervedal, and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Avis (SCMA).
João Varela explained that his family has been renting land belonging to SCMA for more than 70 years and that, as a young farmer who launched his project last year, he felt the need to give a social dimension to agricultural activity. The project aims to bring children from rural areas closer to the olive-growing reality, which has been undergoing changes with the conversion of traditional olive groves to hedgerow olive groves.
Each olive tree produces approximately one liter of olive oil per season, totaling about 150 liters annually when production is at full capacity. The trees will be planted now and will take three years to reach production, with the children receiving the olive oil at home, preferably around Christmas time, until they reach adulthood.
Throughout the partnership, the children will make at least three annual visits to the olive groves to follow the formative pruning, flowering, and fruit development and harvest process. The project kicks off this Friday with field visits, and may also include primary school students from Ervedal and possibly some elderly people.
