Italy: Severe drought damages olive trees ahead of harvest

Rome: Olive trees in Italy’s major olive-growing regions have been damaged by heatwaves and severe drought conditions ahead of this year’s harvest, Olive Oil Times wrote.

The damage to the olive groves was expected to lead to production dropping to historic lows this year, the 9 August report said.

Southern regions in the country, responsible for most Italian olive oil production, have been the most impacted by the harsh weather conditions, Olive Oil Times wrote.

According to farmers’ association Coldiretti Puglia, the region’s olive oil production may decline by more than 50%.

Numerous rain-fed olive trees in Puglia are showing signs of water stress, with many olives desiccating on branches, according to the report.

In regions where irrigation was possible, water remained scarce, with Puglia’s water reservoirs decreasing by 57% compared to the previous season, leading to significant losses across the agricultural sector, Olive Oil Times wrote.

“Severe and prolonged drought is compelling farmers to undertake emergency irrigation at exorbitant costs, driven by the high fuel prices needed to extract water from wells and transport it via tankers,” Coldiretti was quoted as saying.

According to olive producers’ association Oprol, in Basilicata, the critical condition of olive groves observed since last year has escalated into a more intense emergency phase.

“We have already lost the entire olive production for the current season,” the association’s president Paolo Colonna said.

“If these weather conditions persist, next season’s production could also be at risk.”

The situation in Sicily was equally serious, where the dry weather was causing olive trees in several parts of the island to prematurely drop their olives, a natural response to extreme stress, the report said.

Slightly less severe drought and temperature conditions had also affected central olive growing regions, including Lazio and Umbria, Olive Oil Times wrote.

Conditions varied significantly in some central and northern regions, where different weather patterns, milder temperatures and excessive rainfall had, in some cases, caused substantial damage.

According to Cristiano Fini, the national president of farmers’ association CIA-Agricoltori Italiani, Italy is currently a country “meteorologically divided in two” and an ongoing climate crisis is severely challenging agricultural businesses.

Olive growers’ association Italia Olivicola has forecast that the ‘off-year’ combined with extreme weather conditions would reduce Italian olive oil production by at least 23% compared to the previous season.

According to European Union estimates, Italy produced 328,000 tonnes of olive oil in the 2023/24 crop year, significantly above the last five-year average of 307,000 tonnes.