2023-07-21 01:52:36
The project LIFE Living Olive Groves of the organization SEO/BirdLife It allows the agriculture model to be adapted to the new climatic reality and thus be able to recover biodiversity in the olive grove and positively influence profitability, as its promoters highlight.
Commitment to the recovery of everything that the ecosystem offers, so that the project increases the available water in the land, reduces the temperature and increases the resistance of the olive groves
To do this, the NGO is committed to the recovery of everything that the ecosystem offers, so that the project increases the water available in the land and reduces the temperature that it can reach to make the olive groves more resistant.
Challenge faced by olive groves in summer
This is due to the challenge that olive groves face during the summer months in the Mediterranean area, which are characterized by high temperatures and low rainfall.
“By maintaining a plant cover, as long as it is managed with adequate clearing, before the grass competes with the olive trees, all the advantages that the herbaceous cover brings to the olive grove are taken advantage of”
In this way, the model provides more water to the olive trees, a “key benefit” according to the technique of Living Olive Groves and in charge of training farmers, Paula Martín. “By maintaining a plant cover, as long as it is managed with adequate clearing, before the grass competes with the olive trees, all the advantages that the herbaceous cover brings to the olive grove are taken advantage of,” she pointed out.
Reduce direct sun exposure on the ground
These benefits include reducing direct exposure to the sun on the ground, which, as Martín explained, “is especially relevant during the summer monthssince the presence of these remains of vegetation decreases the temperature of the ground and evaporation”.
Thus, according to SEO/BirdLife, the model LIFE Living Olive Groveshelp to create a more diverse ecosystem so that the olive groves are stronger in the face of the alterations caused by the dry and hot periods of the Mediterranean.
In addition, this form of olive farming offers the protection against other weather phenomena They can also reduce moisture, such as wind and also encourage dew buildup.
Vegetation cover improves the amount of water that the soil can retain by increasing organic matter and modifying its structure, making it act like a sponge.
Erosion is reduced, one of the biggest environmental problems in most olive groves in the Mediterranean region
“At the same time, the vegetation cover improves the amount of water that the soil can retain by increasing organic matter and modifying its structure, making it act like a sponge. Its infiltration capacity is also increased, which is beneficial not only in autumn or spring, but also during episodes of intense rain, as they usually occur during summer storms. As a result, erosion is reduced, one of the biggest environmental problems that most olive groves in the Mediterranean region present,” explained Martín.
With respect to its beginnings, this agricultural model was implemented and studied in about twenty farms in Almería and Granada between 2015 and 2021 under the name Living Olive Groveswhile it is currently spreading through LIFE Living Olive Groves to other territories of Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal.
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