Good Agricultural Practices Related to Water and Soil as a Means of Adaptation of Mediterranean Olive Growing to Extreme Climate-Water Conditions

Nektarios N. Kourgialas, Georgios Psarras, Giasemi Morianou, Vassilios Pisinaras, Georgios Koubouris, Nektaria Digalaki, Stella Malliaraki, Katerina Aggelaki, Georgios Motakis and George Arampatzis
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Nektarios N. Kourgialas: Water Recourses-Irrigation & Environmental Geoinformatics Laboratory, Institute of Olive, Tree Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (ELGO Dimitra), 73134 Chania, Greece
Georgios Psarras: Water Recourses-Irrigation & Environmental Geoinformatics Laboratory, Institute of Olive, Tree Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (ELGO Dimitra), 73134 Chania, Greece
Giasemi Morianou: Water Recourses-Irrigation & Environmental Geoinformatics Laboratory, Institute of Olive, Tree Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (ELGO Dimitra), 73134 Chania, Greece
Vassilios Pisinaras: Soil and Water Resources Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (ELGO Dimitra), 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Georgios Koubouris: Water Recourses-Irrigation & Environmental Geoinformatics Laboratory, Institute of Olive, Tree Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (ELGO Dimitra), 73134 Chania, Greece
Nektaria Digalaki: Water Recourses-Irrigation & Environmental Geoinformatics Laboratory, Institute of Olive, Tree Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (ELGO Dimitra), 73134 Chania, Greece
Stella Malliaraki: Agricultural Cooperative Partnership Mirabello Union S.A., 72400 Neapoli, Greece
Katerina Aggelaki: Agricultural Cooperative Partnership Mirabello Union S.A., 72400 Neapoli, Greece
Georgios Motakis: K.E.DH.P. Platanias Municipality Development Enterprise, 73134 Chania, Greece
George Arampatzis: Soil and Water Resources Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization (ELGO Dimitra), 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-16

Abstract: Despite the fact that the olive tree is one of the best-adapted species in Mediterranean hydroclimate conditions, climate extremes impose negative effects on olive fruit set and development and subsequently on crop yield. Considering that the frequency of climate extremes is increasing in the last years due to climate change, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) have to be applied in order to mitigate their impact on olive trees. In this context, 18 experimental olive groves (irrigated and rainfed) were established, located on the island of Crete (south Greece). A set of 13 GAPs were applied in different combinations, mainly targeting to reduce water losses and erosion, alleviate heat stress and increase water use efficiency. Each experimental orchard was divided into two parts, the control (business-as-usual) and experimental (GAPs implementation). Four indicators were used for the assessment of GAPs performance, namely, Water Productivity (WP), Economic Water Productivity (EWP), Runoff (RF), and Yield (Y). WP and EWP were found to be up to 2.02 and 2.20 times higher, respectively, in the demonstration part of the orchards compared to the control, while Y was found to be up to 119% higher. RF was higher up to 190% in the control compared to the demonstration part of the experimental orchards. The above results clearly demonstrate that the implementation of the proposed GAPs can significantly support the adaptation of olive crops to extreme conditions.

Keywords: olive trees; agricultural practices; water efficiency; crop yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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