CIHEAM Press Review

Puglia's new generation of entrepreneurs is reviving the region's devastated olive industry, using innovative ideas and technologies to rebuild.

A lab in Athens ruled out Xylella fastidiosa as the cause of the dieback in central and northern Corfu groves.

Une éradication plus rapide, des diagnostics précoces et davantage de recherche font partie des éléments clés de la stratégie de confinement.

The spread of Xylella fas­tidiosa in Puglia, the south­ern Italian region, has slowed but not stopped. Signs of the infec­tion have been found in a few olive trees located in an area pre­vi­ously con­sid­ered safe.
The results of the lat­est mon­i­tor­ing oper­a­tions show that the deadly olive tree pathogen has infected 19 olive trees near Polignano a Mare, a coastal town not far from Bari, the regional cap­i­tal.

Photo - The Olive Times

A new law in Italy has changed monitoring and removal operations in Xylella-plagued areas. Funds are being used to replant trees and compensate millers.

Last week the International Olive Council (IOC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations signed an agree­ment to for­mal­ize their long-run­ning asso­ci­a­tion.

The mem­o­ran­dum, which was signed dur­ing the 113th ses­sion of the Council of Members of the IOC, clar­i­fied the work­ing details of the part­ner­ship that is geared toward sup­port­ing the olive sec­tor.

Le blocage, pendant plusieurs jours, du canal de Suez par le porte-conteneurs Ever Given a suscité beaucoup de commentaires, à propos du gigantisme des navires de commerce, symboles pour certains des excès d’une mondialisation à défaire. Si les chaînes de valeur méritent d’être rétrécies et que la relocalisation de certaines productions permettrait de réduire des vulnérabilités commerciales, il n’en demeure pas moins que les échanges internationaux restent nécessaires. Cela vaut dans le domaine agricole et alimentaire, où le rôle de la mer doit être souligné.

The Tuscan Regional Phytosanitary Service has released tech­ni­cal guide­lines for mon­i­tor­ing and con­trol­ling the olive fruit fly pop­u­la­tion by grow­ers and tech­ni­cians work­ing on organic and inte­grated farms.
Considered one of the most harm­ful olive tree pests due to the dam­age they cause to both the quan­tity and qual­ity of the fruit, this dipter­ous insect is found in the Mediterranean basin, South Africa, Central and South America, China, Australia and the U.S.

Olive grow­ers are cel­e­brat­ing ​“a sign of hope and rebirth” after har­vest­ing healthy olives from trees recently rein­tro­duced to the Xylella fas­tidiosa-rav­aged region of Puglia.
Farmers from Casarano, a com­mune located close to Lecce at the heel of Italy’s boot, have har­vested olives from their two-year-old trees belong­ing to the Favolosa cul­ti­var (or Fs-17).

Un nouveau foyer de Xylella fastidiosa a été identifié en Espagne dans la Sierra de Gata, au nord-ouest de Cáceres, après un premier cas à Valencia de Alcántara en 2024. La bactérie, touchant principalement les espèces forestières, a également été détectée dans quatre vignes. Cela suscite des préoccupations pour le secteur viticole local, bien que les grandes régions productrices comme La Rioja ne soient pas menacées, selon l’expert Eduardo Moralejo.

The findings could unravel a decade of policy and understanding that Xylella fastidiosa was the leading cause of Olive Quick Decline Syndrome in Puglia.

Public and private stakeholders are working together in Salento province to plant new crops and revitalize the previously devastated landscape.

L’introduction, par les voyageurs se rendant au Maroc, des végétaux (plants, plantes ornementales et semences) sur le territoire national n’est pas autorisée. Tout végétal (plant, plante ornementale e

Local agricultural associations protested a local court's decision and said it would result in further damage to the region’s olive trees.

Photo credit: Olive Oil Times

A research team from the University of the Balearic Islands has identified two species of insects as the main vectors of Xylella fastidiosa on the Mediterranean archipelago.

The researchers from the university’s applied zoology and conservation research group found Philaenus spumarius and Neophilaenus campestris to be the two main carriers of the deadly olive tree pathogen.

The study is the largest of its kind in Europe and took place over three and a half years on the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.

Olive oil production is expected to rebound in Puglia and other southern regions, while Central and Northern producers stand to face a disappointing season.

Italian olive oil production is expected to reach between 290,000 and 310,000 tons in the 2021/22 crop year, according to Italia Olivicola and AIFO, the Italian association of olive oil mill operators.

In early 2016, Giovanni Melcarne, an agronomist and the owner of an extra virgin olive oil farm in Gagliano del Capo, walked through the southern Italian countryside of Puglia. He was with a fellow olive-oil farmer who had called and told him there was something he had to see. The two approached a centuries-old olive tree growing at the edge of the street along a traditional stone wall. All around, the old olive trees that covered the red clay were either dead or in an advanced state of decay, filling the landscape with an unnatural greyness. Melcarne was not surprised: At least 2 million olive trees in Puglia looked this way, including many of his own.

Using sound vibrations, researchers may be able to disrupt the mating of spittlebugs in olive groves. Agriculture groups are calling for more research.

Italy’s southern orchards have been affected by hailstorms, drought and the Xylella bacteria.

Italy, the world’s second-largest exporter of olive oil, has seen output drop by a quarter this year, an agricultural lobby said, due to bad weather and a deadly bacteria.