On Thursday 02 February 2017, 16:00, at the Cultural Center of Ormylia, in Halkidiki, with a great response from the interested farmers, a workshop took place on the sustainable management of olive groves. This is an effort to inform olive growers within the project “Introduction of new oLIVE crop management practices focused on CLIMAte change mitigation and adaptation” (oLIVE-CLIMA).
The event was organized by the Soil and Water Resources Institute – Former Land Reclamation Institute (LRI) of the Hellenic Agricultural Organization – DEMETER, Directorate General of Agricultural Research.
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 purpose of the seminar was to present innovative cultivation practices in olives with a wider aim of mitigating impacts and adapting to climate change. The seminar was attended by representatives from the Institute of Soil Resources, representatives of the beneficiary of the project ANATOLIKI SA, agronomists and farmers of the region.
The workshop began with the visit to the olive groves in order to present the innovative cultivation practices proposed by the project. In addition, farmers were informed of the three areas of implementation of the actions. In addition, there has been a discussion with farmers about the practices they are currently implementing, the results and the problems they face. The visit was completed with an analysis of the benefits for the environment and for the farmer from the implementation of project practices. After the study visit to the olive grove, the workshop continued in the hall, as a seminar.
The first presentation was by Dr. Georgios Koumpouris, Researcher, Agronomist from the Institute for Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, partner of the Olive-Clima project. After briefly presenting project scope and objectives, highlighted the implications of existing soil management practices and the benefits of implementing the new farming practices applied to the Olive Clima project. It also referred to the possibilities for financial support of producers, which may result from the application of the Olive Clima farming practices, through the Rural Development Program. Finally, he informed the participants of the Educational Videos available on the project’s website, aiming at their comprehensive information and the possible adoption of practices in their crops.
The next presentation was by Dr. Panoras Athanasios, Senior Researcher, Agronomist, presented the alternative ways of irrigating olive groves, optimal irrigation periods, the amount of water to be applied per watering and acre and the need to record the irrigation water and soil quality data. Finally Mr. Panoras informed that the Soil and Water Resources Institute – Former Land Reclamation Institute is at the disposal of farmers and agronomists for their complete information on issues related to their cultivation.
Dr. Athanasios Roubos, Professor of Arboriculture ATEIH, presented in detail the ways of managing and dealing with the problems of the establishment and harvesting of the olive groves, from both administrative and technical point of view.
Finally, Dr. Evangelos Hatzigiannakis, Associate Researcher, Agronomist at the Soil and Water Resources Institute – Former Land Reclamation Institute, presented a more specific issue on the rational feeding of vine, a cultivation that is very common in the greater area of Ormylia.
Educational Videos are available here
The presentations of the conference (available only in greek):
4. Dr. Evangelos Hatzigiannaki
