Early performance of Olea europaea cv. Arbequina, Picual and Frantoio in the southern Atacama Desert

Abstract

The cultivars Arbequina, Picual and Frantoio of Olea europaea are cultivated in severalMediterranean countries. In 1999, these cultivars were planted at three locations in the region of Coquimbo,an arid, Mediterranean-like area in Chile. A generalized linear modeling approach was used in view of thenon-normal distribution of the agronomic data sets. Fruit yield (harvests of 2002-2003), precocity (2002) andtree survival (after four growing seasons) differed significantly between the cultivars. Arbequina and Picualhad a positive effect on the yield. Picual was the earliest cultivar at two sites. The survival rate of Frantoio washigh at the three sites (90-100%), as opposed to Picual (56-83%). The approach of Generalized Linear Modelswas particularly useful where the assumption of normality was not satisfied. The selection of cultivars ispromising in this arid region of Chile, while the success will depend on the selection of well-adapted genotypesto a particular location