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| An olive branch near Fuerte del Rey, in southeastern Spain. |
| Photo d’archives : AFP/VNA/CVN |
“Climate change is already a reality, we must adapt to it”hammered home Jaime Lillo, executive director of the International Olive Council (IOC), on Wednesday June 26, on the occasion of the first World Olive Oil Congress, which brings together 300 participants in Madrid until Friday June 28.
A “reality” painful for the entire sector, faced for two years with a drop in production on an unprecedented scale, against a backdrop of heat waves and extreme drought in the main producing countries, such as Spain, Greece and Italy.
According to the COI, global production fell from 3.42 million tonnes in 2021-2022 to 2.57 million tonnes in 2022-2023, a drop of around a quarter. And in view of the data transmitted by the 37 member states of the organization, it should decline again in 2023-2024 to 2.41 million tonnes.
This situation has caused prices to soar, ranging from 50% to 70%, depending on the varieties concerned over the past year. In Spain, which supplies half of the world’s olive oil, prices have even tripled since the start of 2021, to the great dismay of consumers.
“Scénarios complexes”
“The tension on the markets and the escalation of prices constituted a particularly delicate +stress test+ for our sector. We’ve never experienced this before.” assured Pedro Barato, president of the Interprofessional Organization of Spanish Olive Oil.
“We must prepare for increasingly complex scenarios that will enable us to confront the climate crisis,” he continued, comparing the situation experienced by olive growers to “turbulence” experienced by the banking sector during the 2008 financial crisis.
The prospects, in fact, are not very encouraging.
Today, more than 90% of the world’s olive oil production comes from the Mediterranean basin. However, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), this region – described as a “hotspot” climate change – warming 20% faster than average.
A situation that could affect global production in the long term. “We are facing a delicate situation.”which involves “change the way we treat trees and soil”summarizes Georgios Koubouris, researcher at the Greek Olive Institute.
“The olive tree is one of the plants best adapted to dry climates. But in cases of extreme drought, it activates mechanisms to protect itself and no longer produces anything. To have olives, you need a minimum of water.”insists Jaime Lillo.
Genetics and drip
Among the solutions put forward in Madrid is genetic research: for several years, hundreds of varieties of olive trees have been tested in order to identify the species best adapted to climate change, in particular based on their flowering date.
| Olive groves near Banos de la Encina in southeastern Spain. |
| Photo d’archives : AFP/VNA/CVN |
The objective is to find “varieties that need fewer hours of cold in winter and that are more resistant to stress caused by a lack of water at certain key times” of the year, like spring, summarizes Juan Antonio Polo, responsible for technological issues at the COI.
The other major area that scientists are working on concerns irrigation, which the sector hopes to develop through the storage of rainwater, the recycling of wastewater or the desalination of seawater, while improving its “efficiency”.
This involves abandoning the“irrigation de surface“and to generalize the”drip systems“, which bring water”directly to the roots of trees” and help prevent losses, insists Kostas Chartzoulakis of the Greek Olive Institute.
To adapt to the new climatic situation, a third, more radical approach is also being considered: abandoning production in certain territories, which could become unsuitable because they are too deserted, and developing it in others.
This phenomenon “has already started“, albeit on a small scale, with the rise of “new plantations“in regions hitherto foreign to the cultivation of the olive tree, specifies Jaime Lillo, who says “optimistic” for the future, despite the challenges facing the sector.
“Thanks to international cooperation, we will gradually find solutions.”he promises.
AFP/VNA/CVN
