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Scientists are trying to catalogue hundreds of olive trees, some more than 1,000 years old, on the Greek island of Crete in a bid to save them from abandonment amid falling olive prices, an agronomy institute said on Wednesday. Olives have for centuries been a Cretan staple and a major source of income but falling [...]

By Julie R. Johnson, Officials are scratching their heads as to why this year’s olive crop is the pits. “The crop looked really good early on,” said Doug Compton, assistant commissioner of the Tehama County Agriculture Department. “But then we began hearing reports of poor fruit set from olive growers.” Across the state, Tehama County [...]

By Geoff Johmson, The local olive oil industry is expected to boom over the coming years, but California has seen better olive harvests than 2008. As the state’s olive crop comes in, it appears an April frost and a May heat wave have knocked California’s olive crop to less than half of that of 2007. [...]

By Dan Bryant, Mechanical harvesting research in California olives during the 2007 season documented greater efficiency with hedgerows over traditional trees, according to Louise Ferguson, University of California, Davis Extension specialist in pomology. Ferguson explained the 2007 trial results and plans for the 2008 harvest research during a Central California olive day at Exeter recently. [...]

A 20% increase in olive oil production is likely to present a marketing challenge for the country’s olive growers. Grower organisation Olives New Zealand says groves in Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Kapiti, Nelson and Marlborough performed better than those in Canterbury and the Far North, mainly because of variable weather conditions. Executive officer Alastair Bridge says [...]

California table olive growers will receive prices for their 2008 crop that are 5% to 10% higher than last year’s crop, but the crop is off by nearly half. The Olive Growers Council on Thursday announced agreement with the Bell Carter Olive Co. in Corning and Musco Family Olive Co. in Tracy for table olive [...]

Olive growers say crop losses from an infestation of olive lace bugs and fungal disease are worse than first thought, with yields down by about 50 per cent. The Hunter Olive Association‘s vice-president, Mike Wilson, says about 450 tonnes of olives were processed for oil this year, down from 880 tonnes in 2007. There was [...]

By Cecilia Parsons, This year’s “off year” table olive crop looks to be thin and scattered statewide. Olive growers and processors met in July to estimate the size of the 2008 California table olive crop. Members of the California Olive Committee concluded that processors could expect 65,000 tons this season. Adin Hester, president of the [...]

By Julie R. Johnson, The Sevillano olive crop in California is doing poorly this year with little fruit on the tree, As olive growers in the state continue to struggle in an industry fraught with problems such as the olive fruit fly, foreign imports, and labor issues, it was unwelcome news to learn this year’s [...]

By Debra Smith, Charles and Gayle Pancerzewski didn’t know much about olive oil when they bought a 25-acre olive grove in New Zealand. They learned fast, after the man tending their land went bankrupt and they discovered he had planted a variety of olives that won’t produce at their balmy northern New Zealand grove. That’s [...]

Can India become a major producer and exporter of olive oil? 50,000 sapling of various varieties will be planted near Jaipur to find the Variety most suitable to India. By Siddhartha Sarma, The agriculture board of a desert state, a micro-irrigation firm, and an Israeli company think so. Later this week, 50,000 olive saplings of [...]

The village of Wimberley is set in one of the prettiest parts of Texas and the soil here is great for growing flowers, fruits and vegetables. One local farmer is getting some historical results; Bella Vista Ranch owner Jack Dougherty is getting the Texas soil to produce something rare in this part of the world: [...]

Climate change could lead to more crops of olives and sunflowers being grown in Dorset, delegates at an environmental forum heard. Around 60 people, including farmers, politicians and environmentalists, attended a meeting on climate and landscape change at Kingston Maurward College organised by Dorset’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) branch. Environmental workshops followed keynote [...]

Himachal Pradesh will welcome the proposed Indo-Spanish joint venture olive oil extraction unit establishment in the interiors of the state to give boost to the professional cash crop cultivation. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today, after discussing the JV proposal to set up olive oil extraction unit in the state, said the border areas of [...]

Marketable health benefits, along with a growing consumer interest in Mediterranean foods and unique regional flavor choices, are helping to drive an invigorated olive oil market in the U.S., which should surpass $1.3 billion by 2010, according to Olive Oil in the U.S., the latest market research from Packaged Facts. Packaged Facts projects that the [...]