Fanny Sabardeil was the youngest exhibitor, just thirty years old, at the Perpignan Agricultural Festival (Pyrénées Orientales), from 11 to 13 October, and she embarks on a great adventure: starting agriculture with a 5.5 hectare olive grove, or 4,900 trees. Enough to join his partner, who already grows pomegranates and apples near Espira-de-Conflent (Pyrenees Orientales). But Fanny Sabardeil’s orchard won’t look like any you might encounter nearby.
In the small valley nestled literally at the foot of the Canigou, between Espira and Estoher (Pyrenees Orientales), the olive trees were planted in hedgerows at the beginning of last week, and will be managed in this way so that they can be harvested by machine and not by hand, to limit labor costs. Fanny’s partner, Jean-François Planas, provides some details: “For variety, we chose an Arbosane clone. A variety that, if not local, remains local, because it is Catalan. With the altitude, at 400 m, our orchard should suffer less from the effects of the heat and be less affected by the olive fly that causes damage elsewhere. It’s not that it won’t be present but it will cause less damage. »
This establishment also means that Fanny Sabardeil’s olive trees will require fewer phytosanitary treatments, a central point of this project focused on “healthy eating”, as she explains. The orchard will also be irrigated with water from the Llech, which flows directly from the Canigou.
The farming couple can thus hope for a first – small – harvest within three years, and the subsequent production of olive oil. Ultimately, the expected production is around 1,000-1,500 liters per hectare. Less than the 2,000 liters per hectare expected from a similar orchard on the plains, but enough to complete the range of products they intend to sell directly to consumers, particularly through business packaging.
#limit #phytosanitary #treatments #olive #trees #planted #hedges #foot #Canigou