Olive

Olive is grown across Mediterranean-climate regions worldwide, from long-established groves around the Mediterranean basin to newer plantings in similar climates elsewhere, spanning traditional low-density orchards and intensive mechanized systems.

The crop’s tolerance of heat, drought, and marginal soils has supported its cultivation on land less suited to many other tree crops, though yield and oil quality still respond strongly to management and climate.

Family

Oleaceae (olive family)

Genus

Olea

Principal species

Olea europaea (cultivated olive)

Growth habit

Long-lived evergreen tree, commercially propagated from cuttings and grown in traditional or hedgerow orchard systems

Olive cultivation traces back thousands of years around the eastern Mediterranean basin, spreading across southern Europe, North Africa, and the Near East before later introduction to other Mediterranean-type climates, including parts of the Americas, southern Africa, and Australia.

Production remains concentrated around the Mediterranean basin, with current production, cultivar, and trade figures compiled by FAO, national agencies, and, within the European Union, EU agricultural authorities.

Olive is adapted to Mediterranean-type climates with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters, and it requires a period of winter chilling for normal flowering, though its chilling requirement is modest compared with many temperate fruit trees.

The crop tolerates high summer temperatures and drought well once established, but young trees and blossom are more vulnerable to frost, which can damage or kill tissue in unusually cold winters.

Olive tolerates a wide range of soils, including shallow, stony, and calcareous (chalky) soils where many other tree crops perform poorly, provided drainage is adequate. Well-structured loams support the best growth and yield.

New groves are established from cultivars selected for oil or table use, climate adaptation, and, increasingly, suitability for mechanical harvest, with spacing set according to the chosen training and harvest system.

• Cultivar selection for oil or table use and regional climate adaptation
• Training system choice, from traditional open-vase forms to modern hedgerow systems for mechanical harvest
• Pruning to maintain light penetration and manage the biennial (alternate) bearing tendency of many cultivars
• Long-term orchard floor and irrigation management across many productive decades

Nitrogen supports vegetative growth and fruit set, while boron is closely linked to flower and fruit set in olive, with deficiency associated with poor fruiting. Potassium supports fruit growth and oil accumulation.

Traditional olive groves are often grown rain-fed, relying on the tree’s deep rooting and drought tolerance, while modern intensive orchards commonly use deficit irrigation, applying water strategically below full crop demand to manage vigor and support oil quality.

Water stress at critical stages such as flowering and fruit set can reduce yield, so irrigated systems schedule deficits carefully around these periods.

Anthracnose affects fruit, causing rot that reduces oil quality, particularly under wet conditions near harvest, while Verticillium wilt is a soil-borne fungal disease that can cause serious dieback and tree loss, especially where susceptible crops preceded the grove. The olive fruit fly is a major insect pest affecting fruit quality, and scale insects can weaken trees and promote sooty mold.

Management combines resistant or tolerant cultivars where available, orchard sanitation, monitoring, and — where justified — locally authorized control products applied according to their labels.

Olive is harvested by hand, with hand-held or mechanical shakers, or with continuous mechanical harvesters in hedgerow systems, with timing set by intended use and desired ripeness, since oil composition and table-olive processing both depend on fruit maturity at picking.

• Extraction of olive oil for culinary and food-industry use
• Curing and processing of table olives
• By-products such as pomace used for oil extraction residues, animal feed, or fuel
• Ornamental and landscape use in Mediterranean-climate regions