Renewing olive groves

[olive]

Thought folk might be interested in this. Around us , many of the hill olive farmers are taking the opportunity to have their old mature olive trees removed and then planting up with young trees that will take at least five but more likely ten years before they are productive.

The old trees are lower in productivity and harder to harvest. Hill farms often have three or four trunks.

What s interesting is that the deal is zero cost ( apart from the saplings) to us farmers. The company strip the trees of branches, saw the remainder up for firewood. Then the roots are removed for lower grade firewood. ( They are taken away in big chunks and mechanically pincered into log burner sizes by specialised kit - too many bits of rock to use a chain saw).

The company rents a suitable plot of land that is accessible to large articulated lorry transport and dozens of tractor trailer loads are dumped there each day. One destination is Valencia. That must be a days drive for a lorry.

Once cleared of wood, the ground is rough ploughed by caterpillar tractor before handing back to the farmer. The farmer then removes newly exposed rocks and plants up single stem trees which are easier to mechanically harvest.

So still plenty of investment going on for the future at the cost of production now! Everyone is downbeat already over the coming harvets due to the lack of rain in the last six months - well 24 months!

[Trooperman]

That, Olive, is precisely what has happened over the road from my house where Miguel has grubbed up trees planted by his grandfather to put in single stem young stock. A good description as you tell it with a JCB type "nibbler" crushing up the roots for lower grade firewood.
However, there is a more sinister side as well. The old trees were never irrigated, unlike these new replacements which have the tell-tale sign of black plastic pipes snaking around the grove, lowering the already compromised water table for the village.

[Pamela1]

Over the last 2 weeks the area where we are held a meeting about the water crisis, it was decided unless people are on the drip ( as the locals say) they will be fined if they are caught running water down chanels.
The local agri store has been very busy selling rolls and rolls of pipes..As usual a crisis creates a money maker but trees/crops need water or else there will be a food crisis.

[gavilan]

I am lost for words (that might be a relief to some!) ... appalled at what olive farmers are doing ... both in terms of cutting down old trees and watering new young ones ... disgusted at companies making money from aforesaid actions

https://www.surinenglish.com/malaga/axa ... :noticia:3

[gavilan]

I might add that that article states water has been directed from Rio Chillar to La Vinuela reservoir ... I have no idea where it went as water levels in that reservoir have been dropping steadily for the last 2 years!!! ... scroll down to the graph ...

https://www.embalses.net/pantano-883-la-vinuela.html

[olive]

I am lost for words (that might be a relief to some!) ... appalled at what olive farmers are doing ... both in terms of cutting down old trees and watering new young ones ... disgusted at companies making money from aforesaid actions

https://www.surinenglish.com/malaga/axa ... :noticia:3

It is a nice sentiment to preserve mature trees but the reality is they become unproductive. The watering is a necessary evil. We all need food and farming is a significant part of Spains economy and uses 80% of our water. The premium on olive wood for heating can be laid at Putins door.

More central ( government) intervention in water use? Acceptance of greater desertification due to changes in the climate? Grants to change farming practice? Funds from the 70 billion euro recovery fund diverted to more desalination plants powered by solar? A national water grid.

[Wicksey]

There's much talk about deslination plants but how long for these to be up and running? The weather has been mad this spring, more like June than March/April.

I find the whole subject of water very worrying as they've been talking about it for years but have not done anything much. Some areas are now using waste water from water treatment plants which is a start but we are on agricultural water from aquifers in the mountains and I'm not sure if these are going to keep providing water forever at this current rate. There are still constant earth works and mango planting around us, it is never ending. I accept that this is people's livelihood but there needs to be proper plans about water supply, and urgently. The Met office is warning of a long hot summer, and here we've only had 7 days of serious rain this winter and nothing for 7 months before that. We write on the calender when we get a day of rain, it is so rare these days.

[olive]

And the controversial irrigation of Strawberry fields in the Donana wetlands (( drylands ?) has just been given OK. It will be interesting to see if the EU carries out its fine threat.

Where is Hidrografia in all this?

[gavilan]

olive wrote: It is a nice sentiment to preserve mature trees but the reality is they become unproductive. The watering is a necessary evil
but in a well known and well documented time of widespread drought ... we need to accept lower yields and lower water usage ... we need/must acceot that times are changing and we have to change too ... it is both a personal and governmental responsibility ...

[olive]

What you are advocating then is government ( ie us taxpayers) support for farmers not using water and increased food prices due to lower production?

Most rural towns and villages around us have farming as their main income. When harvests are poor there is noticeably less money for extras from having a coffee to changing the car. Everyone in the community suffers.

[gavilan]

having less money is surely better than having none ... when the boreholes/springs/streams/reservoirs completely run dry

[gavilan]

I was thinking about all this ... and remembered that, in the 'hungry years' (1940s) some older folk here, told me there was a 'store' in a hamlet 1km from this place ... where people brought their excess produce and exchanged it for fruit/veg etc whatever they lacked/needed . ... methinks we need to learn to share/collaborate/co-operate with each other ... let go of this idea of 'individualism and profit ...

[olive]

gavilan for presidente!

Donated food doest pay bills. You will need to compensate farmers denied irrigation water. The sector I understand is olives. A decent sized tree ( could have several trunks) will produce say 30 to 50 euros secano. Irrigated double. So a reasonable compensation would be 30 to 50 euros a tree. ( trees 4 metres high and spread of 5 metres). That is a lot of money to find. Surely better to manage what exists and create more available water.

[gavilan]

You will need to compensate farmers denied irrigation water. ... reminds me of Italian government that paid oil companies to stop drilling

create more available water. ... do you have a sytem in mind?

[olive]

See my earlier post. More desalination and/ or a national water grid. Plus more governance from Hidrografia. Or head in the sand OR reduce consumption and compensate.

With respect, oil companies are not 100’s thousands if not millions of small farmers. The bed rock ? of Spain.

[gavilan]

olive: you have mentioned several times that boreholes were being drilled illegally in your area ... I suggest those small farmers knew they were using water illegally obtained ... and sooner or later would run out ... and have an impact not only on the olive trees but the surrounding land ... ???compensation for what???

[olive]

Here is some action

https://www.surinenglish.com/andalucia/ ... 59-nt.html

[Wicksey]

Friends that have a house in an area we used to live are having trouble with their bore hole. I guess it is running dry as the pump keeps tripping out after drawing up a small amount of water. They've had it checked out but I think it's low water causing these problems, and it's been going on for a couple of years now. It is a holiday home but there is a small irrigation system running for the garden.

They have tried to join the local water community system by paying for a water share then they would have had to pay for the piping form the meter cupboard to their house, plus running costs to the local water company that now provides drinking water to the area. They've just been told that due to this drought decree they cannot be added to the system. So they are stuck now. Quite where the water is coming from in our current valley for the planting of all these new mangoes I'm not sure (plus of course, the many thousands of trees planted in the past 10 years on previously seco land).

[spanish_lad]

We drove up the 'bottom road' to alhaurin the other day, and a massive warehouse has been built, and all the land flattened.. there must be 20,000m2 of avocado trees in there. God knows where the water comes from for them ? It's far enough out in the campo for the town water not to reach, but the houses opposite do have water meters so...

[gavilan]

Axarquia urged to reduce water consumption to 200 litres per person


https://www-axarquiaplus-es.translate.g ... _tr_pto=sc