Sustainable Practices in Olive Groves: Experiences and Good Practices

Sustainable Practices in Olive Groves: Experiences and Good Practices

Sustainable olive growing aims to maintain farm productivity and olive oil quality while reducing environmental impacts, protecting natural resources and improving the long-term resilience of olive-growing areas.

This discussion invites olive growers, producer organisations, agronomists, researchers and other stakeholders to share practical experiences, tested solutions and good practices adopted in olive groves across the Mediterranean region.

Possible topics include:

• sustainable soil management;

• cover crops and reduction of soil erosion;

• efficient irrigation and water saving;

• precision irrigation and soil-moisture monitoring;

• balanced fertilisation and organic amendments;

• integrated pest management;

• reduction of plant protection products;

• protection of biodiversity and beneficial organisms;

• management of pruning residues;

• use of renewable energy and low-emission machinery;

• carbon-footprint reduction;

• climate-change adaptation;

• preservation of local olive cultivars;

• digital and precision-farming tools.

Questions for discussion

1. Which sustainable practices are currently applied in your olive groves or territory?

2. What environmental, agronomic or economic benefits have you observed?

3. Have these practices affected olive yield or oil quality?

4. What difficulties or additional costs were encountered during their implementation?

5. Which practices are easiest to adopt, and which require more technical or financial support?

6. Are there solutions that could be transferred successfully to other Mediterranean regions?

7. What type of training, technology or public support would help olive growers become more sustainable?

When replying, you may use the following structure:

Country and region:
Type and size of olive grove:
Practice adopted:
Problem addressed:
How the practice was implemented:
Main results and benefits:
Costs or difficulties:
Recommendations for other growers:

Participants are encouraged to describe both successful experiences and practices that did not produce the expected results. Sharing limitations and implementation problems is equally valuable, as it can help other growers make more informed decisions.

The contributions collected through this discussion will support knowledge exchange within the OliveOilMedNet community and help identify sustainable practices that can be adapted to different farming systems, cultivars and Mediterranean territories.