Editorial - Agrotypos

Newsletter LIFE oLIVE-CLIMA 6/2015

2015 informative newsletter for the project LIFE11 ENV/GR/942 oLIVE-CLIMA

“INTRODUCTION OF NEW OLIVE CROP MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION”

Editorial

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IFE11 ENV/GR/942 oLIVECLIMA begun in October 2012 and will last for 5 years with a total budget of 3.649.373€. Its completion will allow farmers across Greece to adapt their cultivation practices in a way that allows them not only to mitigate GHG emissions, but also to become more resilient to climate change. During the project, new cultivation practices will be applied to olive groves in Heraklion (Peza), Lassithi (Mirabello), and Messinia

(Chora). The effectiveness of the proposed practices in mitigating climate change, their impact on the production of fruit and oil and their viability in technical and economic terms will be assessed through a program of samplings and measurements. Special modeling will be used to assess the proposed practices and compare them to conventional management practices. By producing well documented training material and implementing hands-on training sessions on

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the new cultivation practices developed, the project aspires to set the path for value added olive products, with higher consumer appreciation, in one of the most significant agricultural activities from a financial, social and ecological point of view in rural Greece, such as olive and olive oil production.

Eftichia Kivrakidou Project Manager PAGE

The LIFE Programme The project oLIVE -CLIMA Presentation of the participants Good agricultural practices in olive orchards Demonstration practical videos for farmers PEFCR for olive oil Dissemination and Networking Contact information

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THE LIFE PROGRAMME

THE PROJECT OLIVE-CLIMA

The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental and climate policy and legislation by co-financing projects with European added value. LIFE began in 1992 and to date there have been four complete phases of the programme (LIFE I: 1992-1995, LIFE II: 1996-1999, LIFE III: 20002006 and LIFE+: 2007-2013). During this period, LIFE has co-financed some 3954 projects across the EU, contributing approximately €3.1 billion to the protection of the environment. } Read more: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/

oLIVE-CLIMA is funded by 50% by the financial instrument Life + of the European Union and has a total budget of 3.649.373 € (EU contribution 1.822.436 €). It was launched in October 2012 and will be completed in September 2017. The main aim of the project is to trial the introduction of new cultivation practices for tree crops in order to find a cost-effective means of mitigating and adapting to climate change. The project focuses specifically on olive-producing areas in Greece, investigating the potential of these areas to increase carbon sequestration by soils, and to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. In other words, in this project, a mitigation approach (enhanced CO2 uptake and reduced CO2 emissions) and an adaptation measure (increased soil quality) are tackled at the same time. } Read more: http://www.oliveclima.eu/en/

PRESENTATION OF THE PARTICIPANTS COORDINATOR

for Rural Development implementing rural research, vocational education & training (VET) of farmers and agronomists, certification activities of agricultural production systems and products. Headquarters consist of 4 general directorates located in Athens that supervise 11 research centers, 6 VET schools, numerous laboratories for food quality analyses located throughout Greece. In the project “Demeter” is represented by three research centers: } Institute for Olive Tree & Subtropical Plants of Chania Website: www.nagref-cha.gr } Soil Science Institute of Athens Website: http://www.ssia.gr/en/ } Land Reclamation Institute, Thessaloniki Website: www.lri.gr

Development Agency of Eastern Thessaloniki’s Local Authorities ‘ANATOLIKI s.a.’ Since its establishment, by local authorities and other public bodies, in May 1995 ANATOLIKI SA has had a dynamic and potent presence in the field on EU funded programmes, especially in the fields Environment, Energy & Transportation Management, Local Development and Human Resources. Other LIFE projects that ANATOLIKI has participated as a Coordinating Beneficiary are LIFE07 ENV/ GR/000278 - Soil Sustainability (So.S.), LIFE04/ ENV/GR/000099 WATER AGENDA and LIFE99/ ENV/GR/000590-Wastewater reuse. } Website: www.anatoliki.gr

RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS

University of Basilicata, Italy

Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Demeter”.

Department of European and Mediterranean Culture (DICEM).

The University of Basilicata (Italian: Università degli “Demeter” is a national organization of the Ministry Studi della Basilicata) is an Italian public research

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AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES

university located in Potenza, Italy and Matera. It was founded in 1982 and is organized in 6 Schools. It is a research institution with activities ranging from physiology, ecology and production of agricultural crops to the functioning and conservation of the environment. Other activities include transfer of technology to farmers and enhancement of product quality standards by means of rational use of cultivation techniques and production factors. } Website: www2.unibas.it/dicem/index.php/it

NILEAS – Agricultural Cooperative for Standardized Products-Messinia. In the spring of 2002 a group of 55 olive oil producers in the western Messinia area of Greece founded a non-speculative company. The company’s title is The Group of farmers for Integrated Olive Oil Production with the brand name of Nileas. The aim of our company, according to the company statute, is the application for integrated/environmental management system for our members’ agricultural holdings. } Website: www.nileasoliveoil.gr

COMPANIES FOR TRAINING AND DISSEMINATION Rodax Agro Ltd (RODAX) Environment & Quality Management Systems in Agriculture.

Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Peza.

RodaxAgro Ltd is a small consultancy firm specializing in the development and implementation of Environmental – Integrated Management Systems in Agriculture. Its founder G. Michalopoulos has been the author of the first Greek standard for Integrated –Environmental Agriculture AGRO 2-1/AGRO 2-2 (1999) as a consultant at the time of the Greek standardization and certification body AGROCERT. RodaxAgro has been the consultant of groups of farmers producing a large variety of products like asparagus, peaches, sweet corn, beans, apricots, cotton, grapes (edible and wine), kiwis, squash and mostly -during the last 8 years- olives for oil production. } Website: www.rodaxagro.gr

The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Peza is located in the Prefecture of Heraklion Crete. Its basic products are wine and olive oil. PEZA UNION constitutes a model organization at the agrocooperative area since 1933. It is important to mention that PEZA UNION produces wine from 15.0000 tons of wine grapes yearly while at the 2 private oil factories 6.000 tones of olives are grinded. The number of employees of PEZA UNION is 130 while the seasonal staff exceeds the 300 persons at peak seasons. } Website: www.pezaunion.gr

Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Mirabello.

Agrotypos s.a.

The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Mirabello was founded in 1937 and has since been active in supporting and marketing of local agricultural products, supporting members of twenty four (24) Agricultural Cooperatives. Scope of work is to provide agricultural supplies and related goods to support rural production (agriculture - livestock) of “Mirabello” as usual be called by the inhabitants of our region, our province. Also the bottlind and marketing of extra virgin olive oil. } Website: www.easm.gr

Agriculture crop & animal husbandry magazine AgroTypos is a publishing company specializing in agricultural publications. It aims at bringing science into practice by informing timely and accurately all professionals of the agricultural sector in Greece, in either plant or animal production. Many expert scientists from research institutes and universities, with a deep insight of the current situation, are now involved in this effort. Journalists, cameramen, graphic artists and web designers are also employed. } Website: www.agrotypos.gr

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GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES IN OLIVE ORCHARDS

Fig. 2: Olive mill liquid by-products are recycled in the olive orchard contributing to soil fertility, water and carbon storage.

Fig. 3: A mix of legumes and cereals is sown in the olive orchards to provide a soil cover contributing to protection from erosion and storage of rainfall water, nitrogen and carbon.

Fig.1: Olive leaves, pruned branches and olive mill by-products are mixed, composted and recycled in the olive orchard contributing to soil fertility and carbon storage. Fig. 4: Pruning residues are chopped and recycled in the orchard improving retention of soil moisture as well as contributing mineral nutrients and carbon in the soil.

Three farmers groups employ 120 farms in the major olive cultivation areas of Greece to demonstrate the benefits of recycling organic by-products of olive mills through compost (Fig. 1) or direct application (Fig. 2), enrich soil fertility and biodiversity through sowing mixtures of legume species (Fig. 3), exploit pruning residues as a soil amendment (Fig. 4), and form the trees in a way to maximize carbon storage and productivity (Fig. 5). Finally, soil is protected through minimum or no tillage (Fig. 6). Farmers are supported by a group of experts who regularly visit their olive orchards to provide customized advice (Fig. 7). Cultivation practices are optimized according to local soil and climatic

Fig. 5: Olive tree pruning regulates fruit load for regular yearly yields and improves leaf photosynthetic efficiency.

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Fig. 7: Expert agronomists are in close cooperation with farmers to customize sustainable cultivation practices according to the local conditions.

Fig. 6: Soil is covered by natural flora during the rainy period and it is protected from erosion. Also rain water is better stored in the soil instead of moving superficially and causing flooding incidents.

conditions through frequent measurements and interaction between farmers and scientists. The efficiency of project practices is monitored and improved based on sampling and analysis of a wide variety of samples (soil, tree shoots and leaves, weeds, compost, olive mill byproducts, water) (Fig. 8) and measurements e.g. CO2 emitted from the soil, soil water content, tree architectural properties (tree dimensions, Leaf area index) (Fig. 9).

Fig. 8: Detailed sampling and analyses of soil, plant tissues, olive mill by-products and weeds are realized to monitor project progress.

Fig. 9: Soil CO2 emissions, soil moisture and olive tree canopy leaf area index are some of the numerous measurements implemented to determine carbon balance in olive orchards.

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DEMONSTRATION PRACTICAL VIDEOS FOR FARMERS Three videos were produced by the project partners to demonstrate good agricultural practices in olive orchards for climate change mitigation and adaptation:

} Pruning olive trees.

} Weed management in olive orchards.

in olive orchards. Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=CkE01NVjkWk

Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=9J1w7f0Tghk } Fertilization and organic matter management

Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qbwzB3eq7eM

PEFCR FOR OLIVE OIL A special effort is undertaken by RodaxAgro with regard to long term carbon storage in soil, in the context of PEFCR, as an extension of oLIVE-CLIMA on which it is based 100%. So, RodaxAgro as member of the PEFCR Technical Secretariat, has volunteered to set up a “soil working group” (Soil PECFR) in parallel to an “Olivegrove PEFCR” working group. As part of this activity Mr. Michalopoulos presented

oLIVE-CLIMA related topics in the 1st Soil Quality in Life Cycle Assessment Workshop that took place in Bordeaux, France on August 30th. This workshop is quite important as the link so far between soil science and LCA is quite poorly developed. } Read more: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ eussd/smgp/pdf/Fiche_olive_oil.pdf

DISSEMINATION AND NETWORKING •• A Networking Meeting between beneficiaries of LIFE + projects and other projects which are relative to climate change was held on May 28th 2013. Representatives of relevant entities

(Ministries, Universities, Institutes, etc.) also attended the meeting (Fig. 10). •• A successful networking meeting in the framework of the special session “Sustainable orchard management to face climatic changes” was organized by IOTSP, DICEM and SSIA in the framework of ELS 2014 conference with 12 presentations and over 60 representatives from many countries. The profile of each institution was collected to be uploaded in the OLIVECLIMA website networking forum (Fig. 11). Fig. 10: OLIVECLIMA partners organize regular events to interact with stakeholders and support decision making and policy. Photo from a national networking meeting held in May 2013 in Athens Greece with participation of projects and institutions working on climate change mitigation.

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Newsletter LIFE oLIVE-CLIMA 6/2015 •• Project was discussed in a seminar “Genetic Resources management” organized by the International Olive Council (COI) in Tunis, Tunisia with participation of delegates from 12 COI members and 17 countries. •• During the conference “Agricoltura e ambiente nuovi modelli di sviluppo sostenibile” held in Scanzano Jonico (MATERA) on 16th January 2015 a network activity was established with participants of the Project Carbon footprint dell’azienda Frutthera. •• DiCEM personnel participated on 27th Nov. 2014 to the meeting of the Italian Olive Working Group held in Andria (Bari) within the National Olive Conference. There were representatives of the Spanish (Prof. Morales) and Portuguese (Dr Ferreira) Olive Working Group. The oLIVE-CLIMA Project was presented and it was proposed to have in the 2016 in Spain a networking meeting organised during the Spanish National Olive Conference. •• DiCEM’s personnel (Prof. Xiloyannis) participated on 01.04.2015 in a TV programme broadcasted by the RAI3 National TV Channel talking on the bacterium Xylella fastidiasa thought to be the

Fig. 11: A conference session dedicated to orchard management to face climatic changes was organized by OLIVECLIMA in the framework of ELS2014 conference in Bari, Italy, September 2014.

causal agent of brunch dieback symptoms in olive trees (Fig. 12). •• Two poster papers were presented by IOTSP in the IOBC/wprs WG “Integrated Protection of Olive Crops” in Kalamata, Greece, May 11-14, 2015. Fig .12: OLIVECLIMA principles were presented in the national TV network of Italy by partner Prof Xiloyannis of the University of Basilicata in April 2015.

CONTACT INFORMATION ANATOLIKI S.A. – DEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF EASTERN THESSALONIKI’S LOCAL AUTHORITIES 1st Km Thermi -Triadi (Gold Center N. 9), 57001 Thermi, Greece. P.O. Box: 60497 Tel: +30 2310 463930 Fax: +30 2310 486203 Email: [email protected] Designed by AGROTYPOS SA and prepared by Institute for Olive Tree & Subtropical Plants of Chania.

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