SFF Project Summary
Development of an integrated olive production system for NZ olive growers
Best Practices Manual for Olive Growing
Quarterly Update: to May 2005
The New Zealand Olive Association is involved in a nationwide project to develop and implement a Regional Best Management and Integrated Olive Production System for New Zealand olive growers and processors.
The aim of this system of growing olives in New Zealand is to provide growers with up to date information and technical skills on how best to manage their groves so as to increase and maintain the production of high quality olive oil and olive products while also incorporating relevant and practical aspects of integrated crop production.
There is a growing demand by domestic and international market place consumers for an assurance that the product is of high quality, is healthy and safe, and has been produced in an environmentally friendly way. New Zealand olive oil produced to date has been of high quality and is aimed at the high value and quality, niche and boutique markets. There is a strong belief that the only way which the NZ olive oil will be able to capture and maintain a premium niche market position once production volumes increase is to move to integrated olive production.
The economics of production in New Zealand are highly dependant on high yields of high quality olive oil and these must be sustainable. To equip NZ olive growers with best management practices now will ensure that the olive industry will, in the future, achieve sustainable yields of high quality olive products. This project is the vehicle by which the NZOA will:
- educate NZ olive growers to understand and gain the skills to carry our best management grove practices in managing pests, diseases and weeds that will also ensure sustainable economics in the industry
- design a monitoring and tracking system for growers to use, and put in place an auditing and control system to maintain quality of olive products.
The first phase of the project has commenced with a review of integrated fruit production in other horticultural crops.
A series of grower workshops in the main olive growing areas in NZ will be held during the month of March 2002. The aim will be to determine growers views on and expectations of the work programme and in particular growers views on the components of the programme, the best way to get industry involvement, how the change to Best Practice/ IOP should take place and how the programme should be implemented.
Following the workshops a document setting out a model for a Best Management/IOP programme will be developed.
Quarterly Update: to May 2005
The Integrated Olive Production/Best Management Practice (IOP/BMP) Manual
The IOP/BMP Manual is a multi-author, web-mounted manual that provides expert advice to the New Zealand olive industry on a set of key production issues identified as most relevant to our growers. These include the management of:
1) Birds
2) Insects
3) Fungal disease
4) Plant nutrition
5) Irrigation
6) Soil
Also the design and management of the:
7) Canopy
8) Grove floor (row/inter-row)
9) Shelter
10) Frost protection
And also with chapters dealing with:
11) Site selection/preparation
12) Cultivar selection
13) The application of sprays
14) Harvest and post-harvest methods and management
Each of these chapters is co-authored by Dr Sandy Lang and by some other person judged to be expert in that particular field of endeavour.
Progress and standard:
This 32-month project is well on schedule for completion by 30 June 2005. Industry feedback on the IOP/BMP Manual received so far is uniformly positive and congratulatory.
Extension: During the course of the project, the New Zealand industry (still very young) has grown and matured somewhat. It now approaches 1,000,000 trees of average age perhaps 4 years, and these are distributed from one end of the country to the other. A number of topic areas in which technical information would be desirable have emerged that are in addition to the 14 areas identified at the start of the project. The manual's extension along these lines is planned for 2006.
Maintenance:
Meanwhile, we are seeking ways in which the existing content of the BMP/IOP Manual can be maintained against rapid advances in what might fairly be judged 'best practice'. This goalpost will continue to move in line with technical advances in horticulture, with growing experience with the olive crop grown under New Zealand conditions, and with rapid changes in public and professional perceptions of what in practicable terms is considered to constitute 'sustainable production'.
