gold'Oreites (Cyprus), Nov 26 (AFP) Nearly 6,000 carob treeswere planted today in Cyprus as the Mediterranean island seeksto revive its tradition of producing "black gold".
We're going to plant 40,000 carob trees before the end ofMarch," said Constantine Christophides, a professor at theUniversity of Cyprus who heads the project.
In three or four years, these trees could produce 10,000tonnes annually of carob, which is used to make syrup, asweetening agent or in animal feed.
That represents around one fifth of the carob produced onthe island at its peak in the early 20th century.
"In 1900-1910, we exported 50,000 tonnes a year,"Christophides said, adding that the substance was thenconsidered the "black gold of Cyprus".
Cypriot carobs, long pods filled with black seeds, werepopular from Europe to Britain and Canada.
Income from the trees enabled many families living in thecountryside to put their children through school.
But carob trees were abandoned and production fell as newgenerations moved to towns and cities.
The university project, carried out in collaboration withCyprus' Agricultural Research Institute, aims to produce carobfood, drinks and other items locally.
"The carob is an organic substitute for cocoa, forexample," said Christophides.
The professor said laboratory tests were being conductedto develop, among other things, new carob-based drinks ordrugs based on its beneficial properties for digestion.
"It's a great opportunity to revive that tradition, tobring the carob tree back to Cyprus and to enrich theenvironment," said Evdokia Constantinou, one of the volunteerswho came to plant trees today.
"Cyprus was covered with trees in antiquity and now wehave lots of places where trees don't grow because of lack ofprecipitation." (AFP)KIS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
