“Within the framework of the SUSTAINOLIVE project (PRIMA H2020), coordinated by Roberto García of the University of Jaén, a survey is being carried out to identify and characterize the diversity of conditions under which olive groves are cultivated and olive oil is produced in the main producing countries of the Mediterranean basin. This task is integrated within the work area led by Doctor José Muñoz Roja (Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Évora) whose objective is to provide a synopsis of the cultivation of olive groves. The spatial and socioeconomic structure of the olive grove, those key landscape elements, the pedoclimatic conditions, the technological and political contexts will be identified and characterized This survey is being distributed in parallel in olive groves in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Tunisia and Morocco. Results will be posted at www.sustainolive.eu.

 

In Spain, the survey will include another 20 questions that will allow the identification of the main barriers in the transmission of knowledge from the centres that generate it and the olive growers, in addition to those that the olive growers identify as key when implementing sustainable agricultural strategies and practices. The identification of barriers and the design of a collaborative platform are tasks of the project related to the work area led by Dr. Gema Parra Anguita (University of Jaén), whose objective is to promote a change towards more sustainable models in the production of olive oil. Some of these barriers may be related to the training that farmers need, but also to the need for institutional support. The information obtained, both in Spain and in the other participating countries, will serve to guide the start-up of workshops in which these barriers are overcome through work programs with a participatory approach. “