JAÉN, March 25 (EUROPA PRESS) -
COAG Jaén has pointed out that the olive grove is "very affected by the water stress of five years of drought" and, although this crop "is very grateful" and the recent rains have been "very beneficial", still "the bells cannot be launched on the fly".
"We are far from great harvests," the organization stated this Monday in a note, from which it was added that the olive grove has two mainly critical moments and in which it needs water for its production.
One of them is that of flowering in the month of April and the other that of maturation in September, so these rains "are coming very well", but "we must also take into account that the olive tree blooms on the growths of the last year".
As an example, he explained that in 2018, when a large harvest of about 1.8 million oil was recorded nationwide, the irrigated olive trees had more than ten internodes on average and six or eight in the dry land. However, currently there are dryland olive trees "with only two or three internodes and that is enough for a couple of olives per bunch."
The area that is worst in this sense is the countryside from the Fuerte del Rey area to Lahiguera, and areas of Arjona, especially irrigated olive groves that have not received enough water in recent years and are more dependent on she.
"At this time it is too early to talk about crop forecasts, since flowering must begin, so that frosts do not occur, or days of excessive heat that spoil the flower, among other meteorological effects," commented COAG-Jaén.
In any case, "what is clear is that, if everything went well, between now and September, when the first olives begin to be harvested, we could have an average harvest." It would be "good news after two very bad ones, but not something to shout about."
Regarding the availability of oil, he recalled that, despite all the rains, at this time and until the harvesting of the next harvest begins, "the oil is what there is and that the link may be short if the good exits to the market".
"Good news for the sector because it demonstrates consumer confidence in a high-quality product, the basis of the Mediterranean diet, despite the increase in prices, compared to previous years," the agricultural organization concluded.
