Bug takes heavy toll on Australian olive growers
A number of olive groves in the Lower Hunter have nothing to harvest this year because of widespread damage from the olive lace bug.
Mike Wilson from the Hunter Olive Growers Association says the weather this year has been a major factor in the spread of the bug, which he estimates has destroyed at least 100 tonnes of olives.
He says growers in the Broke, Pokolbin and Rothbury areas are the worst affected and the trees will need time to recover, so the losses will last well into next year.
“Others managed to control it, to get onto it early enough, that wasn’t too bad,” he said.
“But yes there’s a few people there who have just lost the 2008 crop and the 2009 potential crop and yes, in some cases, total loss.”
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Posted in Australia | NZ, Ecology | Environment, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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Inauguration by his Majesty the King of Morocco of an olive grove with Spanish technology
On April 3rd 2008, Its Majesty King Mohammed VI carried out the inauguration of a mechanized plantation of olive-trees (directed by GPS) of Spanish varieties (Arbequina and Arbossana) and Greek variety (Koroneiki) pertaining to the Company AGRO HEALTH and located in the Moroccan area of Beni-Mellal.
This plantation was designed and led technically by the Spanish Company of Cordoue TODOLIVO which forms part of S.O.S CUETARA Group.
AGRO HEALTH is aiming to produce as from November 2008 “gourmet” Extra Virgin olive oils of very high quality intended for export markets (Asia, USA) starting from its own orchards of olive-trees on 600 Hectares located at the foot of the Atlas at the cities of El-Borouj, Marrakech and FkihBenSalah. Each Farm of olive-trees in hedge (high density) will be integrated by a modern crushing mill allowing a very short time (20 minutes) between harvest and crushing in order to obtain an extra virgin, fruity olive oil with a very low acidity (maximum 0,2°).
AGRO HEALTH was founded by the Aqallal Family which, from father to son since 4 generations, is known for her engagement for the development and the perfection of agriculture, and for an ancient olive-growing tradition narrowly attached to the soil, having for result an oil which maintained all its original and true savor.
Posted in Africa, Ecology | Environment, Event-Festival, Olive Oil, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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A million olive trees to make Indian desert bloom for farmers
By Rhys Blakely,
The desert of Rajasthan in the north of India is to be planted with a million olive trees grown in Israel in an effort to transform the landscape and the fortunes of its struggling farmers.
The countries are finalising a three-year plan on agriculture that will introduce several crops associated with the Middle East and Mediterranean to India. It is hoped that the sub-continent — more famous today for its mangoes and spices — will become an exporter of olive oil by 2011.
Lior Weintrub, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Delhi, said: “The symbolism is significant: an olive tree in the Middle East … well, it means a lot.”
Diplomacy has also paved the way for dates and grapes from Israel to be grown in Maharashtra, a state in western India that has been blighted by tens of thousands of suicides among desperate smallholders in recent years.
Israeli technology companies will be drafted in to lend their expertise on matters such as water recycling and irrigation. In their home country, Israeli scientists have been credited with “greening” the Negev desert, performing what has been termed an agricultural miracle.
Indian olive oil is likely to find a ready market in the West as there is a global shortage of the product amid rising demand.
It is also hoped that the adoption of new crops and farming techniques can be a stepping stone towards a second green revolution in India — the first being the period in the 1960s and 1970s when the introduction of modern methods and new plant varieties radically boosted yields and eradicated famine.
Posted in Cashmere | Around, Ecology | Environment, Middle East, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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Cholive, the chocolate in the shape of an olive
Is it the perfect garnish for a Chocolate Martini, or is it an elegant dessert accoutrement? Is it an occasional indulgence, or is it a decadent late-night snack? Or is it something else entirely? The answer is, yes.
Quite simply, The Cholive® is dark chocolate, formed in the shape of an olive. It’s perfect for Chocolate Martinis and other trendy drinks, but it’s equally at home atop a sundae or a flourless chocolate cake swimming in a raspberry Beaujolais reduction. The Cholive®™ is the perfect reward for a hard day or a job well done, or the perfect remedy for the chocolate fix.
What’s the right way to enjoy The Cholive®?
That’s up to you.
Buy online here
Posted in North America by: Olives101
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Shaking up the olive harvest
For thousands of years, olives have proved a difficult and labour-intensive crop to harvest, but a Moutere grower thought there has to be a better way. Anne Hardie visits a grower who has a knack for inventions.
Harvesting olives can be a labour-intensive process that has been just about begging for a bit of Kiwi ingenuity. Fortunately, Roger Armstrong likes to tinker with machinery and has used that legendary ingenuity to invent a contraption to simplify the job.
His invention, the “Smart” olive catcher, has halved the number of seasonal workers he employs each year and should also improve the quality of the fruit from which oil is extracted.
Traditionally, olives around the world are collected into mats or fine nets, either by shaking them from the tree or waiting for them to fall. In Armstrong’s operation, a “pneumatic clapper” was used to get the olives off the trees.
[Source] Click here to continue
Posted in Ecology | Environment, Olive Tree by: Olives101
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