13 Jul

Olive water study in Australia

A rural Industries Research Development Corporation study has shown that olive growers can reduce their irrigation without sacrificing yield. The study also suggests the characteristics of the olives are not affected by reducing water volumes. The study, Olive Crop Management for Optimal Sensory and Chemical Quality Project, was carried out over four years at a [...]

11 Jun

McEvoy Ranch in northern Marin unveils windmill

By Rob Rogers, Photo Frankie Frost, Publishing heiress Nan McEvoy hopes a once-controversial 98-foot-tall windmill on her northern Marin ranch will become an inspiration for farmers and others interested in leaving fossil fuels behind. “I know there is nothing my mother is prouder of,” said Nion McEvoy, who spoke on his mother’s behalf during a [...]

04 Jun

Scientists Use Olive Industry Waste to eliminate heavy metals from sewage

The waste obtained from olive during the oil extraction process can be used to eliminate heavy metals from sewage or waste waters of productive activities. Olive pits, pomace and remains (from olive tree pruning) present an outstanding capacity to retain the lead present in this water, which confirms their capacity as biosorbents for their application [...]

12 Mar

Environment-friendly Olive Oil Factory

Here are some pictures of Olisur Olive Oil’s new and Eco friendly factory. More pictures and details here

12 Mar

Indigenous olive oil project reaches an ‘interesting stage’

Olive pressing increases 30 times in 10 years! By Joanna Ripard, Retired jeweller Sam Cremona’s brainchild, the Project for the Revival of the Indigenous Maltese Olive (Primo), is at an “interesting stage” and is just three years away from its interim target of 10,000 trees producing the Bidnija olive. “We need to have 30,000 trees [...]

18 Feb

Olives May Be Rescued By Helpful Wasp

By Marcia Wood, Olives basking in sunny California groves might find that their new best friend is a small brown wasp. Known to scientists as Psyttalia cf. concolor, the little wasp can help foil the olive fruit fly, a powerful natural enemy of olives. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist Victoria Y. Yokoyama and colleagues have [...]

10 Dec

Olive harvest unaffected by snow in Spain

Snow falling across Spain has not harmed the olive crop in the world’s largest producer or significantly slowed the ongoing harvest, a farm union said. Spanish television has broadcast pictures in recent days of snowbound olive pickers in southern region Andalucia, which accounts for most of Spain’s olive oil output and by itself far surpasses [...]

17 Nov

Spanish Olive’s Industry could be hit by the desertification

Winemakers in Spain could soon find themselves scrambling for juicy red grapes. People may also find olives and cheese missing from their salad plates. The olive and grape farms that thrived in the balmy Mediterranean could become relics of the past with countries like Spain facing the prospect of desertification. Almost 35 per cent of [...]

30 Oct

Turning Waste Olive Stones Into Bioethanol

Olive stones (pits) could be the newest ethanol feedstock used in Spain and could give the olive processing industry an opportunity to turn the 4 million tons of olive stones it generates every year into a valuable asset. Researchers from the Universities of Jaén and Granada have now shown how this can be achieved in [...]

28 Oct

Sarah Palin and the olive fruit fly research

last week, Sarah Palin gave her first policy speech, urging the federal government to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Along the way, she too attacked science earmarks by claiming that the shortfall needed to fully fund the act was less money than was allocated to projects that have “little or nothing to [...]

15 Oct

Extra-Virgin Maggoty Oil in California

By Alastair Bland, At Bernardo Winery, one of the oldest olive oil producers in California, oil flow has come to a standstill. While the Rancho Bernardo company has historically produced 300 to 400 gallons of olive oil per year from its 1200 trees, the olive fruit fly, an invasive pest that’s native to Mediterranean Europe [...]

30 Sep

Olive pest in Southern California

By Dan Bryant, Olive psyllid, a serious pest of olives in Mediterranean locales, has been identified on landscape olive trees in Southern California and may pose a threat to the state’s olive industry, according to a University of California, Riverside research entomologist. “Psyllids are some of the most fecund insects I have worked with,” he [...]

26 Aug

Olive oil spill into Baltimore harbor probed

Workers with the state Department of the Environment and the city Fire Department plan today to flush a 2-mile stretch of sewer leading to the harbor after it was contaminated over the weekend by a 6,000-gallon olive oil spill at an East Baltimore business, authorities said. By Gus G. Sentementes, photo by Karl Merton Ferron, [...]

25 Aug

Olive oil consumption leading to ‘serious environmental problem’

Growing demand for olive oil is leading to concerns over drought in parts of Europe, a report warns. By Chris Irvine, Parts of Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal are turning into deserts and suffering water shortages because of the intense olive farming that has developed in the area, according to The Ecologist magazine. The magazine [...]

18 Aug

Century-old olive trees saved by young businessman

Sedat Kirt, Shocked by the destruction of a forest of ancient olive trees amid the environmental degradation of a coal mine, a young businessman from Datça has initiated an extraordinary eco-project. Building engineer Timur Kabaklarlı, 32, now owns 1,500 olive trees after seeing the centuries-old trees being cut for coal mining. During a business trip [...]