Oil, the four moves to revive a 3 billion sector

ROME - More quantity and quality and more investments in research and then push on aggregation of the supply chain and on cooperation in the Mediterranean. The revitalization of Italian olive growing passes from these four actions, presented by Cia-Agricoltori Italiani at its first National Olive Forum in Lamezia Terme. An event with institutions, technicians, scientists to "make the sector more competitive and connected to the territory and the market".

In Italy the olive tree is grown on almost 1.2 million hectares, has 825 thousand farms and 5 thousand mills; all with an agricultural production value of 1.3 billion, while the turnover of the oil industry exceeds 3 billion. Large numbers for a sector that is struggling to renew itself, to keep up with competitors like Spain. Among the biggest evils, according to Cia, there are the pulverization of the production fabric, high costs and volatile prices, little innovation and insufficient generational turnover. Added to this is an extreme production variability that is not good for the system. But the crucial issue is related to the age of the plants (63% are over 50 years old) and the low density of olive groves (42% have less than 140 plants per hectare).

Hence the first action proposed by CIA is to facilitate new higher density plants and encourage the upgrading of existing ones to increase production and productivity of olive groves. The second point is to invest in production and phytosanitary defense techniques, indigenous varieties that are more resistant to diseases and adapted to climate change. It is then necessary to strengthen the aggregation and the role of the Producer Organizations, as well as, finally, to relaunch a Mediterranean strategy of technical collaboration with a solidarity role of farmers to fight crisis, unemployment and desertification of rural areas.