Collaborative actions for the survival of traditional olive groves.

HIDROLIVAR proposes the use of ICT as a vehicle for knowledge transfer to implement methodologies for collective initiatives at the micro-watershed scale, a new approach in agriculture, at a scale larger than that of the landowner or farm.

Action is taken on 4 different farms whose actions have consequences on those of their neighbours, on a consolidated gully affecting 4 landowners in Obejo, to protect the soil.

Three measures have been carried out by common agreement between the four owners, which they assume in a collaborative manner:

1) Barricades formed by prefabricated modular elements of self-execution and low weight and cost in the main gully, SOILPROTECT type. A total of 6 barricades have been installed in different sections of the gully to retain sediment by compensating the slope.

2) Planting of hedgerows along the edges of roads running through the farms as a barrier to prevent damage from concentrated water flow and to improve the landscape and biodiversity. 

3) Pruning remains for the protection and regeneration of soils and carbon sequestration, through the accumulation of plant remains from several plots that have been organised through collective initiatives, which allows lowering costs in this difficult task in plots with slopes exceeding 20%.

The eco-regimes of new CAP encourage soil protection practices and water optimisation in olive grove basins through the use of canopies that protect their surface, increase biodiversity and contribute to CO2 capture. Farmers will be able to take advantage of them by covering a minimum area of at least 40% of the free width of the canopy projection. Maintenance work would be prohibited, which has provoked criticism, although some autonomous communities are considering allowing a minimum maintenance tillage of 10-15 cm to encourage rapid mineralisation, soil enrichment and moisture retention. The planned incentive for this practice is 165.17 euros per hectare, which, according to some estimates, could reach a maximum of 272.53 in the case of woody crops on steep slopes.

This is insufficient support. There is a long way to go to recognise the value that these centuries-old agricultural systems bring to society thanks to their ecosystem services, which in most cases are not valued, nor do they generate economic profitability.

The negative impact of the disappearance of these farms would have socio-economic repercussions on the agri-food sector and the rural environment in which they are located. And there does not seem to be a viable alternative to halt rural depopulation, enhance the role of women and attract young people to a way of life that must be accompanied by the adoption of new technologies to help them overcome the current challenges.

The sector and the administrations that regulate it must work to find solutions that guarantee the sustainability and profitability of traditional high mountain olive groves if we do not want the streets of many of our villages to disappear along with the olive trees.