On Friday 07 April 2017, 09:00, in “Piazza Vittorio Veneto” in Matera, Italy, a workshop took place within the European LIFE project “Introduction of new oLIVE crop management practices focused on CLIMAte change mitigation and adaptation” (oLIVE-CLIMA). The event was organized by the University of Bologna (UNIBO) and specifically professors Dr. Christos Xylogiannis and Dr. Giusepe Montanaro, which are partners of the oLIVE-CLIMA project.
The main topic of the workshop was the impact of agricultural activities on the greenhouse effect. Agriculture has been shown to play an important role in the phenomenon of climate change. More specifically, the subject at this meeting was how olive cultivation can help mitigate climate change. The olive tree is an evergreen tree with a long life and its cultivation techniques are able to favor the carbon capture capacity of the soil and trees of the olive grove.
oLIVE-CLIMA is funded by 50% by the financial instrument Life + of the European Union and has a total budget of 3.649.373 € (EU contribution 1.822.436 €). It was launched in October 2012 and will be completed in September 2017. The partners participating in the project implementation are the following: Development Agency of Eastern Thessaloniki’s Local Authorities “ANATOLIKI S.A.”, Institute for Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture “IOSV”, Department of Soil Science of Athens “DSSA”, Soil and Water Resources Institute – Former Land Reclamation Institute (LRI), University of Basilicata, Italy – Department of European and Mediterranean Culture (DICEM), Rodax Agro E.P.E. (RODAX), AGROTYPOS S.A., A.S. NILAEUS – Agricultural Olive oil Cooperative, Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Peza of Iraklion Pref. Crete S.A., Agricultural Cooperative Partnership Mirabello Union S.A..
The main aim of the project is to introduce new cultivation practices for tree crops in order to find cost-effective means for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The project will focus specifically on olive-producing areas in Greece, investigating the potential of these areas to increase carbon sequestration by soil, as well as to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. In other words, in this project, a mitigation approach (enhanced CO2 uptake and reduced CO2 emissions) and an adaptation measure (increased soil quality) are tackled at the same time.
The workshop included presentations on innovative cultivation practices applied to olives with the aim of mitigating impacts and adapting to climate change as part of the implementation of the project. In addition, the presentations analyzed the concepts of carbon footprint, biodiversity and technological innovation for extra virgin olive oil.
Bartolomeo Dichio from the University of Bologna preached the beginning of the workshop and the presentations of the conference were followed by:
- Department of Agricultural Policy & Forestry of the Region of Basilicata, with title “La Filiera Olivicola Lucana: Criticita’ e prospettive future nel contest della nuova programmazione”, «LUCANA olive oil: Critical and future perspectives in the context of the new programming».
- Dr. Giuseppe Montanaro, from the University of Bologna, with title “Sostenibilità e cambiamenti climatici in olivicoltura”, «Sustainability and climate change in olive production».
- Francesco Serafini, by the International Olive Oil Council (Madrid, Spain), with title “L’impronta di carbonio dell’olio di oliva”, «The carbon footprint of olive oil».
- Dr. Christos Xylogiannis, professor from the University of Bologna, with title “Xylella fastidiosa: gestione dell’oliveto e resilienza dell’ecosistema”, «Xylella fastidiosa: Management of olive groves and ecosystem resilience».
- Luca Braia, Agricultural and Forestry Advisor of the Region of Basilicata, led the debate that followed with the participants.
In addition there have been speeches by producer associations, such as:
- Giuseppe Masturzo, Chairman of the Consortium Vulture DOP and
- Paolo Carbone, Chairman of O.P. OPROL
The presentations of the conference (Available only in Italian):
Dichio – presentazione SOI modificata dichio
Montanaro – oliveclima seminar 7 apr
Serafini – Presentazione Matera 6-4
Educational Videos are available here