According to the Department of Agriculture and Food WA, harvesting has started near Geraldton and will move further south to Gingin before finishing in southern areas in June and July.

Production is expected to rise by 3000 tonnes to 15,000t of fruit in 2009, with oil production around 2500t.

DAFWA market analyst Dick Taylor reminded growers to plan early to ensure a smooth harvest and subsequent processing.

"It is important for growers to pick their fruit and get it to the processors as quickly as possible for processing into olive oil, before the quality deteriorates," Mr Taylor said.

"So it's important to make sure the harvest is clean and any leaf and branch material is removed, which can create delays and costs for the grower and for biosecurity reasons.

"And don’t forget to lock in a processing time with a processor early – especially with a big harvest expected."

The West Australian Olive Council’s (WAOC) annual survey showed fruit production in 2008 fell by 16pc compared with 2007 to about 11,800t, with oil production also down to around 2000t of top quality extra virgin olive oil.

A further 20t were harvested for table olives.

Nationally olive oil production is expected to be near 16,000t in 2009.

Council president John Wholley said he was looking forward to a more favourable season than last year, with all olive regions reporting good crop levels on trees, following a lower harvest in 2008.

"Production was lower last year due to unfavourable weather, harvesting delays, heavy pruning in some larger groves and a biennial bearing pattern developing in some groves," Mr Wholley said.

"The season has been much kinder this year and many of last year’s challenges will not be an issue this year, so the industry is looking forward to a good harvest."

Mr Taylor said a recent workshop organised by WAOC and the department, attended by representatives from 13 of the State’s olive oil processors, was very productive.

"It covered a number of issues including fruit maturity testing to determine the best time to process olives to achieve the best oil extraction and the highest quality oil, handling deliveries of fruit with other material, such as twigs and leaves, diseased fruit or fruit with temperatures too high," he said.

"Also discussed was the operation of specialised equipment that influences the amount of oil extracted and oil quality."