Semi-intensive olive orchards on sloping land: requiring good land husbandry for future development.

The semi-intensive olive production system is widespread in hilly areas with gentle to moderate slopes in Mediterranean countries. This paper reports the main findings of interdisciplinary research (the Olivero project) carried out in five target areas in southern Europe. Agro-socio-economic surveys revealed a wide range of types that could be classified as semi-intensive and subdivided into two systems: low input and high input.

Environmental impact from mountainous olive orchards under different soil-management systems (SE Spain).

Soil erosion, runoff and nutrient-loss patterns over a two-year period (1999-2000) were monitored in erosion plots on a mountainside with olive (Olea europaea cv. Picual) trees under three different types of soil management: (1) non-tillage with barley (Hordeum vulgare) strips of 4 m width (BS); (2) conventional tillage (CT); (3) non-tillage without plant strips (NT). The erosion plots, located in Lanjaron (Alpujarras) on the southern flank of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in south-eastern Spain, had 30% slope at an altitude of 565 m and 192 m(2) (24x8 m) in area.