-- Desert Olive Varieties Now Available --
A Highly Adapted and Profitable Crop for Commercial, Family, and Small Farms
Although Olive production is generally found around the Mediterranean and in California, Olives have also been cultivated for millennia in the deserts of the middle east, and are also grown extensively in the deserts of North Africa.
In fact, the olive tree is has several traits making it highly adapted to hot, arid lands. The tree has small, leathery leaves, with leaf coloration of gray-green on top, and light green underneath. This coloration protects the leaves from intense sun, and attenuates the solar radiation reflected from the soil. The root system is extensive, both near the surface and below. In addition, the stems and branches are strong and bend in the wind, combining with the small leaf structure to create a very wind resistant tree, required in desert and dryland environments.
Olives are water efficient, and can be grown on rocky and relatively poor quality soils, which does not affect production, with proper management. Due to the long growing season in desert areas, olives demonstrate a very high rate of growth under irrigation.
Due to several health benefits, the demand for pure extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is always rising, causing California acreage to increase yearly. This is especially true in light of quality issues with European olive oils, much of which is adulterated. Most California olives are grown in the Central Valley or coastal areas which have prohibitively high land costs. This provides potential for olive cultivation in the deserts and drylands in the south half of the state, as well as some areas of Arizona and southern Nevada, where land prices are lower.
Young desert olive trees, one year from planting
Benefits of Olive Production
Variety selection is crucial, as only specific types are adapted to the extreme heat and unique winter conditions. LBCAS conducts ongoing trials for varieties as well as sustainable methods of production.
Desert olive production is possible for large commercial operations, and is especially well suited to small and family farms, due to:
1. Providing at least some self labor for harvest and processing has several advantages.
2. Like wine, olive oil and table olives can be sold as varietal or estate grown products, providing higher income, especially organically grown.
3. Value added olive products are diverse, including oil, table olives processed and pickled in a wide variety of creative ways, dried olives, olive spreads, pesto, all with existing markets.
4. With the high popularity of olive products, smaller operations can specialize in value added high quality, unique and creative "hand made" or "family made" finished products for the marketplace. High polyphenol (active compounds) medicinal olive oils are a plus.
LBCAS assists with all aspects of olive production, from variety selection, sustainable and organic cultivation methods, to processing and finished product development. Commercial quantities of olive trees may be contract propagated.
Desert green olives in July
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