Olive growing in the arid valleys of Northwest Argentina (provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja and San Juan)

En este artículo se describe la situación del olivar en las provincias argentinas de Catamarca, La Rioja y San Juan

Influence of the soil water content and distribution on both the hydraulic and transpiration performance of 'Manzanilla' olive trees

8 páginas, 4 figuras, 20 referencias.-- VI International Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops, celebrado del 2-6 de noviembre de 2006 en Viña del Mar, Chile.-- [email protected] work was made with mature 'Manzanilla' olive trees in an orchard of a semi-arid area in southern Spain. Three water treatments were considered: Rainfed, in which the trees had rainfall as the only source of water supply; FAO, in which the trees were under localized irrigation to replace the crop water demand, with some roots left in drying soil; Pond, in which the whole rootzones of the trees were maintained under non-limiting soil water conditions for the whole dry season. Our aim was to obtain information on the mechanisms behind the reduction of transpiration (Ep) in the FAO trees, as compared to the Pond trees. Our results show a near-isohydric behaviour of the FAO trees, i.e. those trees under localized irrigation in which some roots are left in drying showed lower stomatal conductance than the Pond trees in which all roots were in wetted soil. This helped the FAO trees to maintain similar leaf water potentials than the Pond trees. In addition, the FAO trees maintained a constant difference between the water potential of the canopy and that in the soil. This has been described as an isohydrodynamic behaviour, and it is thought to be an improvement over a typically anisohydric behaviour. These mechanisms were behind the similar values of tree hydraulic conductance (K p) found in the FAO and Pond treatments. The Rainfed trees showed lower Kp values because of the low Ep values of those trees, due to the low soil water availability in that treatment. Our results show, however, that the Rainfed trees were able to maintain similar values of Kp all throughout the dry season, which shows that the hydraulic efficiency of the xylem of those trees was little affected by embolism, despite of the high demanding conditions in the area.This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, research project No.AGL2006-04666/AGR, and by the EU, research project ref. STREP 023120.Peer Reviewe

Estudio fenológico y caracterización morfológica de variedades tradicionales de manzano y melocotonero

Las variedades locales de frutales seleccionadas a lo largo de los años por los agricultores, son muy interesantes para preservar la biodiversidad y los recursos fitogenéticos, ya que presentan unas características organolépticas peculiares y un valor cultural irremplazable. En 2007 se inició un trabajo de recuperación de variedades tradicionales de frutales en Andalucía (Proyecto INIA, RF2007-00027- C06-05) que contempla su prospección, localización, recogida de material vegetal, caracterización morfológica y molecular, multiplicación, documentación y mantenimiento en colección. En este trabajo se han caracterizado morfológicamente mediante caracteres UPOV las flores, hojas y ramos de un año, de cinco variedades tradicionales de manzano (Malus x domestica Borkh.) y dos de melocotonero [Prunus persica (L) Batsch], no estudiadas con anterioridad. Se ha evaluado la floración en la campaña 2011 y se han realizado los fenogramas correspondientesMICINN, INIA y Fondos FEDE

Texture and antioxidant evolution of naturally green table olives as affected by different sodium chloride brine concentrations

The results on the evolution of the texture and antioxidant activity during the processing of naturally fermented green olives are reported in the present study. The olives were brined with two different NaCl concentrations, 4 and 7%. A puncture test and a texture profile analysis (TPA) test were carried out to evaluate texture, while the antioxidant activity was assessed in consideration of the loss of absorbance of a stable radical upon reaction with a polyphenolic olive extract. The puncture test revealed both an increase and decrease in peel and flesh hardness, respectively. The olives processed with 7% NaCl concentration showed higher peel hardness than olives brined with 4% salt. The texture profile analysis did not reveal any difference between the two salt concentrations used, but showed a decrease in the value of all parameters after 30 days of brining. The antioxidant activity of the polyphenolic extract decreased significantly during processing, with a major loss after the first 30 days of processing and was higher in the 7% brined olives, than the sample treated with 4% NaCl.<br><br>En este trabajo se presentan los resultados sobre la evolución de la textura y la actividad antioxidante durante el proceso de fermentación natural de las aceitunas verdes. Los frutos se colocaron en salmueras con dos concentraciones de NaCl del 4% y 7%. Se evaluó la textura mediante ensayo de perforación y mediante análisis de perfil de textura (TPA), mientras que la actividad antioxidante se evaluó considerando la pérdida de absorbancia de un radical estable tras la reacción con un extracto polifenólico de las aceitunas. El ensayo de perforación reveló un aumento de la dureza de la piel y una reducción en la dureza de la pulpa. Las aceitunas procesadas con una concentración de NaCl del 7% mostraron una dureza mayor que aquellas tratadas con sal al 4%. El análisis del perfil de la textura no reveló diferencias entre las dos concentraciones usadas de sal, pero mostró una disminución en el valor de todos los parámetros después del primer mes de salmuera. La actividad antioxidante del extracto polifenólico disminuyó significativamente durante el tratamiento, con una pérdida importante después de los primeros 30 días de tratamiento y fue más alto en las aceitunas del 7% en salmuera respecto a las muestras tratadas con el 4% de NaCl

A regulated deficit irrigation strategy for hedgerow olive orchards with high plant density

Background & Aims There is not a consensus on the best irrigation approach for super-high density (SHD) olive orchards. Our aim was to design and test a regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) strategy for a sustainable balance between water saving, tree vigour and oil production. Methods We tested our RDI strategy for 3 years in an ‘Arbequina’ orchard with 1,667 trees ha−1. Two levels of irrigation reduction were applied, 60RDI and 30RDI, scaled to replacing 60 % and 30 %, respectively, of the of irrigation needs (IN). We also had a full irrigation (FI) treatment as control, with IN totalling 4,701 m3 ha−1 Results The 30RDI treatment showed the best balance between water saving, tree vigour and oil production. With a yearly irrigation amount (IA) of 1,366 m3 ha−1, which meant 72 % water saving as compared to FI, the reduction in oil yield was 26 % only. Conclusions Our results, together with recent knowledge on the effect of water stress on fruit development, allowed us to suggest a potentially improved RDI strategy for which a total IA of ca. 2,100 m3 ha−1 was calculated. Both some management details and the benefits of this suggested RDI strategy are still to be tested

Influence of Irrigation Scheduling on Fruit Quality of Young Potted 'Manzanilla de Sevilla' Olive Trees

International Symposium on Olive Irrigation and Oil Quality Dec 06-10, 2009 Nazareth, ISRAEL Int Soc Hort Sci (ISHS)International audienceThe aim of this work was to analyse the influence of soil water content and distribution on fruit quality in 5-year-old 'Manzanilla de Sevilla' olive trees in pots subjected to different irrigation treatments for 3 years (2007-2009). The experiment was carried out near Seville, in southwest Spain. Four water treatments were considered: 1) T0, trees were under dry farming conditions except for small amounts of water supplied to ensure their survival; 2) T1, irrigation dose was about 50% of the crop's water needs (ETc); 3) T2, irrigated at 100% of ETc. Some of the roots of the T1 and T2 trees were left in drying soil during the irrigation season; 4) T3, irrigated to non-limiting soil water conditions in the whole rhizosphere throughout the irrigation season. All treatments were fertilized under non-limiting conditions. Results from the 2009 season showed no differences between treatments in either fruit or endocarp shapes. In all cases, the longitudinal diameters of both fruits and endocarps increased with the amount of water applied, as did equatorial diameters, except without significant differences between irrigation treatments. Fruit weight, volume and the mesocarp/endocarp ratio also increased with the amount of water applied. Those increments were mainly related to those of fresh and dry mesocarp weights. The endocarp weight, both fresh and dry, was lower in T0 than in the irrigation treatments, with no differences between irrigation treatments. Oil content on a fresh weight basis decreased significantly with the amount of irrigation and no differences between T2 and T3 were found. These results show both a positive response of fruit quality to regulated deficit irrigation and the fact that wetting the whole rhizosphere to around field capacity influences little, if any, the fruit quality