As Greece moves to tax citizens with more than 20 olive trees, questions arise about fairness, sustainability, and cultural heritage. Will this policy protect the economy-or push small farmers to abandon one of the world’s most symbolic trees?
So, the recent news from Greece is that the government is asking people who have more than 20 olive trees to declare that to the government. The reason is not that they want to encourage them to plant more trees, but rather the plan is to know what kind of revenue these tree owners may generate from trees, if they sell them to markets.
Of course, large-scale olive oil producers declare their sales while selling locally or abroad, and are subject to value added tax and corporate tax, so that is already covered. However, for some other small olive tree growers, the production goes towards their families and sometimes friends, and in case, in a certain year, the yields turn out to be excellent, some may be sold in the local markets alongside home-grown vegetables and fruits.
Some interesting facts about olive trees are that these evergreen trees are very ancient. Their longevity is well known and they can live up to 600 years or more. Their adaptation to poor soils and being drought-tolerant gives them resilience. However, they are also known to have what is called alternate bearing, which means the fruit yield can vary from one year to the next, and let us not forget that it takes many years for a tree to give fruit that can be used for olive oil extraction.
All the above said, the expectation that people should be taxed every year for fruits that may not be ‘fruitful’ just raises eyebrows. On another note, this expectation may have negative effects on tree owners who may end up abandoning these trees and, in worst case scenarios, cut them down.
Olive trees are considered sacred, with many meanings attributed to them, such as wisdom and power. The olive branch, as we all know, is a symbol of peace and olive oil is used in some religious rituals for purification and blessings. The olive tree has also been named in the Holy Koran on different occasions as food through its olives, as a blessed tree, also as a source of light that can be produced by the oil extracted from the olives.
I have not heard such praises for many trees as I have for the olive tree. As all olive lovers know, this is one fruit that you cannot just pick and eat while standing under the tree.
We all enjoy picking fruits from trees that will end up right away either in our mouths or on our kitchen table. However, in this case, the just-picked olive is very bitter and has to undergo many processes to become edible. So, having to wait all these years to start the first harvest and then wait alternate years to have more harvest does not help this produce to be highly profitable except in cases of very large quantities with professional harvesting methods.
My personal view about agriculture in general is that governments not only need to encourage more farming, but they should also assist farmers to produce more crops by reducing taxes and bureaucracy when it comes to selling such products.
Planting the right crops helps farmers and communities. If this farming is done through proper methods, it will have a great impact on our environment.