Sustainable olive oil production is a priority for growing numbers of farmers in Greece as they confront the challenges of global warming. For consumers who prefer to support sustainable food production, olive oil is a wise choice. Climate change makes olive farming more difficult with more heat and less water, but olives can help solve the problem.
The International Olive Council’s deputy executive director, Dr. Abderraouf Laajimi, supported this claim by pointing out that olive trees are resilient, they help prevent soil erosion, and they act as a carbon sink. “Producing one liter of olive oil,” Laajimi said, “captures 10.65 kg CO2 from the atmosphere. World olive oil production absorbs the emissions of a city of 9 million inhabitants.”
Sustainable cultivation increases the benefits of olive growing. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has mentioned several examples of effective adaptation options for farmers. These include soil moisture conservation and sustainable management of water, land, and biodiversity, as well as ecosystem restoration. Greek Liquid Gold recently talked with several Greek olive oil producers about their use of environmentally friendly practices.
Investing in sustainability throughout the olive oil production chain
Maria Moraiti (Zariphico) avoids tilling the soil or using chemicals in her Cretan groves and irrigates only occasionally, “because I don’t want the trees to be used to a lot of water and be stressed when we don’t have water.” Moreover, she values and preserves the biodiversity of her groves, leaving them full of wildflowers. In their mill, Marianthi Volioti (Voliotis Family) and her team use a traditional olive press to make their oil, utilizing no water. They are also the only company in the area of Mt. Pelion to make electricity from olive pits.
Considering all her company’s operations, Ioanna Diamanti (Pellas Nature) is preparing for the European Commission’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), a very difficult certification to obtain. As its website indicates, EMAS aims to help organizations “enhance their environmental performance, save energy, and optimize resource usage.”
Diamanti explained how it works: “we have to check everything in the company: every procedure, building, machine, packaging, product, ingredient, carbon dioxide footprint—everything related to the environment.” Then they make targets for improvement. And they must improve every year. Why go to so much trouble? “We decided to do this because our whole production chain is very eco-friendly,” and they want to do even more. “We believe this is the way it will work in the future, so you have to be prepared.”
Making olive oil production sustainable in the face of drought
Evi Psounou Prodromou (Yanni’s Olive Grove) reported that water is in short supply in Halkidiki, northern Greece, making it “very expensive and valuable.” So Yanni’s Olive Grove is participating in an American Farm School program that provides meteorological stations and sensors focused on irrigation. As a result, they receive data that helps them use water wisely in a precision irrigation system.
Struggling with a serious drought near Corinth, Marianna Devetzoglou and George Haneinas (Oleosophia) faced a difficult crop year. Living near the sea, Haneinas would like to see much more desalination to provide irrigation for agricultural lands in Greece. At the same time, with no water to wash dishes in the evening for several weeks, Devetzoglou emphasized the importance of finding immediate “ways to manage water.” Haneinas believed “drip irrigation should be mandatory.” This trickling of small amounts of water precisely where it is needed can conserve large quantities of irrigation water.
Haneinas reported that since the drought required difficult choices last year, “we didn’t irrigate in summer; we did it in September. A professor from the Agricultural University of Athens advised us on the best period based on soil analysis. People said we’d lose our trees and thought we were crazy, but it worked.” The olive trees looked like they would die. Yet they pulled through and produced a moderate amount of high quality extra virgin olive oil.
George Haneinas believes “with olive trees, if you apply science, it may not be a huge production, but you can make it sustainable. Sustainability is not a trend. It’s not an option.” As Devetzoglou added, “it’s part of the spine of the business.”
Beyond sustainable olive oil production: regenerative olive farming in Greece
In fact, the Oleosophia team is among the Greek olive growers who go beyond sustainable practices in the olive oil sector to embrace regenerative farming. As another regenerative farmer, Emmanuel Vantarakis (Efkrato), explained, “regenerative practices focus on restoring soil health, boosting biodiversity, and drawing carbon back into the earth–revitalizing the land with every growing season.”
For 15 years, as Haneinas explained, the Oleosophia team has incorporated organic matter into the soil of their olive groves “to increase water capacity with whatever we find locally, from wineries, from chicken manure. We create a compost. We leave some grass on the field” rather than tilling. They can see the results of these regenerative efforts: “the soil used to be white from calcium; now it has become dark from the humus, as it should be.” Of course, this is “a long-term project.” Devetzoglou agrees: “you cannot rush nature.”
As Vantarakis revealed, Efkrato also embraces regenerative farming, as well as elements of biodynamic farming, “to heal the land and nurture life, creating thriving, resilient ecosystems. Biodynamic agriculture treats the farm (or grove) as a living, breathing organism, guided by natural rhythms and enriched with organic preparations that invigorate the soil. We minimize intervention, allowing natural processes—refined and perfected over millennia—to unfold.”
Vantarakis told Greek Liquid Gold that his team welcomes “a diverse mix of cultivated and wild vegetation that can attract a wide range of life—from insects to birds and reptiles—all contributing to a more balanced, self-sustaining ecosystem” that includes natural pest control. Their groves have never been irrigated, and they focus on improving the soil’s ability to absorb rainwater rather than irrigating, in order to conserve water.
Enriching the soil and the ecosystem to capture more carbon
In addition, Efkrato uses green manure, which means “planting nutrient-rich cover crops” such as clover or legumes that “contribute essential nutrients to the soil and neighboring plants,” both as they grow and when they are incorporated into the soil to decompose. Green manuring also “improves the groves’ microclimate, shields vital nutrients from the sun’s harsh rays, preserves moisture, and supports essential bacteria,” added Vantarakis.
Why does this matter? Vantarakis points out that biodynamic and regenerative methods can enable olive groves to “become an even stronger carbon sink, since improved soil health and increased biodiversity enhance the grove’s ability to store carbon, contributing to climate change mitigation.” Like many eco-friendly Greek olive growers, Efkrato is dedicated to “contributing to a healthier ecosystem and a more sustainable future.”
Thanks to Emmanuel Vantarakis for all the photos that appear with this article. They were taken in Efkrato’s olive grove.
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