Improved on-farm irrigation management for olive growing

摘要

The key success factors of the olive oil market are the enhancement and stabilization of olive yields,improvement of olive oil quality and reduction of production costs.There is great potential for water saving in olive production in Morocco and Syria.The main purpose of this four year(2010-2014)study is to enhance crop yields of smallholder olive farmers in two Mediterranean countries-Morocco and Syria,through the optimization of water management practices applied to olive cultivation.Due to the sufficiency of rainfall in Syria for growing olives,the study investigates the effect of supplemental irrigation in increasing and stabilizing yield,whereas in Morocco the low rainfall allows only irrigated olive cultivation and so the study investigates the effects of deficit irrigation in reducing water consumption without adversely affecting the olive yield.Results indicate that adding 230 mm(@ 100％of crop water requirement)supplemental irrigation led to as much as 175％increase in olive yields in Syria,and in Morocco,adding water at 70％of ETc led to 63-77％saving in water compared to flood irrigation along with 13-43％increase in yield.