After surviving for more than 20 million years, the olive tree is about to wither, just in the flowering season (between May and June) due to the drought that plagues Spain.
It is assumed that this tree, whose oil brings great benefits to health, resists all climates, but the few rains that have fallen in recent days in the Iberian country have raised fears of a “catastrophe”.
Spain, which is the world’s leading producer, already had a tough year in 2022 and it is projected that 2023 will look worse for the sector.
“It has hardly rained since January. The soils are very dry”, laments Cristóbal Cano, general secretary of the Union of Small Farmers of Andalusia, the nerve center of Spanish olives in the south of the country.
Owner of 10 hectares of olive trees in Alcalá la Real, Cano had not witnessed such a desperate situation in his two decades of experience.
“If this does not change radically in the coming weeks, it will be a catastrophe,” he warns.
According to the Spanish State Meteorological Agency, accumulated rainfall since October 1 has been 25% lower than normal in the country, but 50% lower in much of Andalusia, where water reservoirs are 25% full. ability.
To the pronounced lack of precipitation was added at the end of April a very early wave of extreme temperatures, which left the absolute record for a month of April in mainland Spain of 38.8ºC, in Córdoba, Andalusia. A temperature worthy of a summer month like August.
This phenomenon “has coincided with the flowering” of the olive trees, says Rafael Pico, director of the association of producers and exporters Asoliva, who fears that the flowers will dry up. And “if there is no flower, there is no fruit, and if there is no fruit, there is no oil”, he affirms.
“To the limit”
In Spain, which produces 50% of the world’s olive oil with annual exports of almost 3 billion euros (3.3 billion dollars), the situation is worrying, especially after a calamitous 2022-2023 campaign.
Due to the lack of water and extreme temperatures, Spanish olive oil production has stagnated at 660,000 tons, compared to 1.48 million tons in 2021 – 2022, a drop of 55%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
And this year the scenario could be repeated. “Looking at the weather forecasts, it’s almost obvious now: it’s going to be another black year,” complains Rafael Sánchez de Puerta, general director of Dcoop, the main olive cooperative in Spain.
A situation that could put an end to numerous farms. “A difficult year, we can overcome it. It is something natural from the crop. But two years in a row, it’s going to be a disaster. Many are already at the limit”, says the businessman.
Purchase of machines, payment of salaries, repayment of loans… To maintain their activity, “farmers need liquidity”, underlines Rafael Pico, who recalls that in Spain many people live from the production of olive oil.
price escalation
For consumers, the outlook is also bleak. “The world price reference for olive oil depends largely on Spain,” recalls Rafael Pico.
In recent months, the price of olive oil has been increasing.
“In mid-April, olive oil was selling at 5,800 euros per ton, while in January 2023 it was at 5,300 euros” and “at 3,500 euros in January 2022,” explains Fanny de Gasquet, from the brokerage company. specialized in vegetable oils Baillon Intercor.
A trend that is likely to continue. In Andalusia, young olive trees do not have “roots sufficiently developed to draw water” from the deep earth, so “there will be losses”, with an impact on production for “two or three years”, De Gasquet predicts.
Against this background, the Spanish government lowered the VAT on olive oil from 10% to 5% at the end of 2022, as part of an anti-inflationary plan. To support farmers affected by the drought, it has also reduced the sector’s income tax by 25%.
Some measures considered insufficient in the sector in the face of the crisis that could come.
“Lowering taxes on people who are going to have almost no income, in the end it doesn’t help them much,” considers Rafael Sánchez de Puerta, who calls for a more ambitious plan in the face of “a drought that is lasting longer than necessary.”
“Viejo”
The olive tree originated about 20 million years ago in the Oligocene, in what is now Italy and the eastern Mediterranean basin.
For thousands of years, humans have used olives in Africa, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, for fuel management and most likely for consumption.
The edible olive tree appears to have coexisted with humans for about 5,000 to 6,000 years, dating back to the early Bronze Age (3150 to 1200 BC). Its origin dates back to the Levant based on written tablets, olive pits and wood fragments found in ancient tombs. Already in the year 3000 a. C., olives were grown commercially in Crete; they may have been the source of the wealth of the Minoan civilization.
The ancestry of the cultivated olive tree is unknown. Olea pollen fossils have been found in Macedonia and other locations around the Mediterranean, indicating that this genus is an original element of the Mediterranean flora.
The olive tree is a species present in the landscapes of the Iberian Peninsula as one more element of the Mediterranean ecosystems and culture. Although it is a rustic species, it also presents a series of requirements that limit its area of distribution preferably to areas with a Mediterranean climate.
It is sensitive to frost, although it can withstand temperatures down to -10 °C, although resistance to cold is a varietal characteristic.
High temperatures are harmful, especially during the flowering period. Although olive trees are found in a wide variety of areas, it seems to develop better in areas with a rainfall of between 600-800 mm/year.
Looking for youth phase
A project called ‘Florolive+’ from the University of Córdoba (Spain) will generate biomarkers and methodologies capable of predicting the duration of the juvenile phase of the olive tree, with the aim of finding a shorter phase to advance in the genetic improvement of this crop.
To ensure the future of the sector, it is necessary to have new crops that, in addition to maintaining the genetic diversity inherent to the traditional olive grove, meet the requirements of the new intensive plantations and resist diseases and environmental changes.
Although olive tree genetic improvement programs have advanced to create new varieties capable of dealing with these problems, it is very difficult to develop cultivars quickly, due to the long duration of the olive youth phase, in which the tree is not productive. This juvenile period, which is the time from germination to first flowering, can last 10-15 years under natural conditions.
The olive tree shows anatomical and morphological differences in the plant organs inherent to the juvenile and adult stages of development. In addition, there are environmental conditions that directly affect the time it takes for an olive tree to become an adult. Thus, lack of nutrients or water stress can delay the transition from juvenile to adult, while favorable conditions that allow vigorous plant growth tend to shorten the juvenile phase.
Understanding these situations and the genetic mechanisms that control the transition is a crucial requirement to accelerate it and advance genetic improvement. /ENS with AFP and Europa Press