IN STEREO

This is a contributive cooperative. You’re an investor, [as] a member in the cooperative. You have priority over a non-contributory farmer. During olive pressing season, presses [usually] take, for example, per 100 kilograms [of olives], ten kilograms of oil ‘in return’, they call it. They take the oil. [But] in Bethlehem, because oil has become a little bit less, now we take money. What makes you special as a contributor is that you have a service here. Over the years, you get the [contribution] back 100 times, and you also studied for free, saving you a lot. Everyone brings olives – you bring 900 kilograms, for example. We press them and water is discarded, and oil goes to the tanker. We finished pressing? You fill your oil and you take it. In return for your contribution to the cooperative, the cooperative provides you the services I told you about. It distributes seedlings to farmers during winter seasons – olive seedlings, almonds, all the kinds for planting. In agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture, of course, at nominal prices. You [can] buy fertilisers, too. The compost fertilisers are collective, and medicines and treatment and everything. Also in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, we give brochures and [raise] awareness for the farmers in terms of taking care of the tree, spraying, pruning, how to increase [yield]. We run courses for farmers [about] how to take care of an olive tree to improve fruit quality, fruit features, oil quality, and instructions concerning diseases. During the season we put out brochures: when to pick olives, how to store olives, when to bring olives to maintain oil quantity and oil quality. And anyone who has any problem with their orchard, with their land, we go and check it and give them instructions. Instructions and experience. I mean, anything the farmer needs, we provide it to them. – Basher