25th Anniversary of the Olive Grove in hedgerows
This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Hedge Olive Grove since Mr. Ferrer, near Binéfar (Huesca, Spain), carried out the first hedge olive grove plantation in the world with Agromillora.
From there, a story of overcoming challenges, collaboration between companies, synergies, tremendous effort, and the implementation of a model that has changed olive growing forever unfolded.
The Valonga Estate plantation was the physical realization of a dream that had begun a few years earlier. An enterprising viticulturist from Penedés (Catalonia, Spain) envisioned a new form of olive cultivation. Today, some would characterize that vision as disruptive, while others, more versed in business management, would see it as creating a “blue ocean.”
The term “disruptive” refers to a process or way of doing things that involves a sudden rupture or interruption, superseding and displacing previous methods. Creating a blue ocean means establishing a market space where competition becomes irrelevant.
Whether it was disruption or the creation of a blue ocean, the fact remains that this dream became a reality because that ingenious viticulturist shared his passion with others who, like him, were driven by the desire to create and innovate. And because they didn’t know any other way, they naturally transferred that approach to all the customers and friends they encountered along the way. Unintentionally, perhaps without even realizing it, those pioneers of olive hedgerows, or super-intensive cultivation, sparked more than just a new way of understanding olive growing; they created a concept and a new style of farming.
A Team Effort
Each and every one of you has contributed, in one way or another, to making this system an example for other agricultural sectors today. From seeking synergies, pooling efforts, to achieving a common goal that could never have been accomplished individually.
This cultivation model has no owner or trademark because it is the result of the work of many people. From those who, in the early 1990s, conceived and began shaping a cultivation model that at the time seemed more like madness than a dream. To the pioneers who risked their income and credibility by planting the first estates. To university professors who worked to give coherence and agronomic meaning to initially successful experiences. To service companies that disseminated the system’s fundamentals. Also, the machinery companies that provided technical solutions to the cultivation’s mechanization limitations. To the farmers who, with their experience and knowledge, suggested trying varieties like Arbosana, which have become pillars of the system. And to all those who, with their initial skepticism, never stopped raising doubts and questions, allowing us to rethink plantation designs, pruning, irrigation, fertilization, and more.
Olive Orchards in Hedgerows today
Today, hedge olive groves cover more than 400,000 hectares worldwide and are an undeniable reality in all olive-growing countries. Its development has contributed to the spread of olive oil culture worldwide and to obtaining high volumes of extra virgin olive oil. Furthermore, far from remaining stagnant, the new challenges set for the coming years continue to drive and refine the model:
1.- Achieve 3,000 kilograms of oil/hectare.
2.- Establish itself as a highly profitable alternative in dryland areas.
3.- Implement hedging in table olive cultivation.
4.-Obtain new varieties.
Thank you all and happy “Olive Orchard in Hedgerow” anniversary.
At Agromillora, we hope to continue witnessing the future of a system that, we are confident, will continue for many years to come.
