Todolivo I-15P
REVOLUTIONISES THE OLIVE GROWING INDUSTRY
Small size, high fat yield, an extraordinary productive capacity
(kg of olive oil/ha) and an exceptional EVOO
The perfect option for Olive Grove in Hedge cultivation
Todolivo I-15P
This new olive tree variety comes from Todolivo’s Genetic Improvement Programme. It was naturally obtained in 2008 through cross pollination between Arbosana Clon I-43® and Koroneiki Clon I-38®.
Agronomic Assessment
This variety is of small size, of medium-to-low vigour, and has an open growth habit. In addition to this, it has low pruning needs and it shows a quick productive response to pruning, thus allowing for easy and economical agronomic management.
It is characterized by an early, high and constant production and a high fat yield, both in its early ripening and late ripening stages, and it is in the former when it shows the greatest production differences compared to the other varieties.
In the trials carried out to date, this variety has yielded more kg of olive oil/ha than its parents and than an international selection of 33 traditional varieties to which it is being compared at the “La Mata” and “Las Hazuelas” irrigated estates and at the “El Calderito Alto” rainfed estate. A PRODUCTION COMPARISON with the traditional varieties tested at “La Mata” estate.
Its fruit offers high extractability when milled.
It is resistant to leaf spot disease and tolerant of Verticillium and tuberculosis.
Todolivo I-15P
A very productive variety that will allow farmers to achieve greater profitability in their fields and
to produce an extraordinary EVOO that is unique in the world
Parents
Todolivo I-15P was naturally obtained in 2008 as part of our Genetic Improvement Programme through cross pollination between Arbosana Clon I-43® and Koroneiki Clon I-38®, two of the most productive varieties in our multi-variety Olive Grove in Hedge trial conducted at our Pedro Abad Research Centre (Córdoba) and planted over 23 years ago.
We were very well acquainted with Todolivo I-15P ‘s parents, as we had been aware of their qualities since we started introducing them in Spain and Portugal, in the late 90s. Its mother, Arbosana, was an interesting and highly productive variety, and its small size and low vigour made this the perfect option for hedge cultivation, and, in addition to this, it was very easy to manage and very cheap to prune. Nevertheless, it also showed some weaknesses: its fat yield was lower and it was a late-ripening variety, which resulted in the farmer losing fat points in early harvests, and in slower and more costly harvests due to the high resistance that this variety’s fruit offered to detachment. In addition to this, this variety was resistant to leaf spot disease, tolerant of Verticillium, sensitive to tuberculosis and it tolerated humid soils poorly. With regard to its father, Koroneiki was a variety that delivered an early entry into production and a high productive capacity. Moreover, its oil was highly valued in the market due to its great stability and excellent organoleptic qualities.
For all these reasons, we decided to include them in our Genetic Improvement Programme and cross them in order to obtain a superior variety in terms of production that could inherit and/or enhance as many of its parents’ qualities as possible, while minimising or correcting their weaknesses. Among all their children, we observed that there were some varieties that achieved all these goals, as it was the case with Todolivo I-15P, which fulfilled all the requirements that we were seeking: it was structurally similar to its mother, which made this the perfect variety for hedge cultivation, and, in addition to this, it outperformed both its parents in terms of productive capacity and fat yield. The new variety had the added advantage that it could yield a lot of olive oil in its early stages.
This allowed the farmer to start harvesting olives earlier in order to obtain extraordinary EVOOs and to have access to the high olive oil prices set at the beginning of each year’s campaign, all this without increasing the harvesting costs, since its fruit, even when harvested unripe, could be easily detached from the tree. In addition to this, this variety is resistant to leaf spot disease and tolerant of Verticillium and tuberculosis. Another important quality of the Todolivo I-15P variety is its hardiness, since it shows great adaptability to the different agroclimatic conditions in which we have trialled it, being more productive than the other 33 traditional varieties against which it was tested, both in rainfed and in irrigated conditions. Regarding its olive oil, it possesses extraordinary organoleptic qualities and it is high in oleic acid.
Morphological Characterisation
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Olive Oil Profile
This olive oil has intense grassy aromas, with green fruit notes. Its initial attack on the palate is intense, releasing banana, apple, green almond and fresh grass flavours. It has a distinct peppery and slightly bitter taste that makes this a highly balanced and harmonious olive oil on the palate.
Production History
“The confirmation of an exceptionally gifted variety”
Todolivo I-15P is a clear example of the goals pursued by our Genetic Improvement Programme: to obtain new olive tree varieties that are more productive than the current varieties, that can be easily adapted to mechanical harvesting and that, at the same time, allow farmers to achieve greater profitability in their fields and to produce EVOOs that are unique in the market and that help them differentiate their offering, as well as better cater to the needs and preferences of the different types of consumers.
Todolivo I-15P – Evaluation and Production History
Since its creation in 2008, the Todolivo I-15P variety has kept an impressive production track record. It has not only produced more kg of olive oil/ha than its parents, but has also outperformed an international selection of 33 traditional varieties to which it was compared. Year after year, this variety has proved, in each and every trial carried out thus far, to bean extremely early variety and to have an extraordinary productive capacity, as well as to deliver a high fat yield, both in early and late harvest. Furthermore, it is in early harvests when it shows the greatest differences when compared to the other varieties, an important quality considering the current trend of harvesting olives earlier in order to produce higher quality olive oils that allow farmers to take advantage of the high prices paid for the first olive oils of the year.
1st Field Evaluation
“La Cruz de los Huertos” (a plot of land belonging to the Research Centre owned by our company in Pedro Abad, Córdoba) was the first outdoor field where we planted the Todolivo I-15P variety for a first evaluation, along with other 1,345 varieties obtained in a first crossing stage of Todolivo’s Genetic Improvement Programme. This variety soon stood out from the rest due to its high productive capacity and high fat yield. After six harvests and a thorough and strict evaluation, it was preselected together with other 37 varieties.
This field is still being cultivated, and Todolivo I-15P has yielded an average production of 2,388 kg of olive oil/ha.
2nd Field Evaluation
The second field test was carried out at “La Mata”, an irrigated estate with an area of 36.5 hectares, located near the town of Villafranca de Córdoba. This is a very homogenous plot of land and it is big enough to perform a large-scale trial.
Here, the Todolivo I-15P variety was tested along with other 56 varieties: 37 of these were new varieties from our Improvement Programme, plus an international selection of 19 traditional varieties that were used as control crops, including its parents (Arbosana Clon I-43® and Koroneiki Clon I-38®).
This trial comprises 3 fields: “Cortijo Este”, “Cortijo Oeste” and “La Balsa”. Each of these fields is di-vided into 4 plots of land, which are in turn divided into 57 rows, and an olive tree variety is planted in each row. The trial was replicated 12 times in order to ensure that the data obtained were as accurate and reliable as possible.
For this trial we used two planting layouts in order to obtain information on the behaviour of all the varieties with different planting densities per hectare.
Production History of “La Mata”
Estate – 1st Harvest
In the autumn of 2017, that is to say, one year and ten months after being planted at “La Mata”, the Todolivo I-15P variety was harvested for the first time, delivering a production average of 625 kg of olive oil/ha, while only one of the other traditional varieties to which it was being compared in said trial, “Koroneiki”, bore fruit that same year, producing 547 kg of oil per hectare.
2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Harvest
Following, and by way of illustration, is a comparative summary including the results of the kg of olive oil produced and the average production delivered by Todolivo I-15P and by some of the 19 traditional varieties used as control crops and to which it is being compared in each of the three fields comprising this trial: “La Balsa”, “Cortijo Este” and “Cortijo Oeste”. The following data are the result of the 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 harvests.
SUMMARY OF KG OF OLIVE OIL/HA BY VARIETY
“LA MATA” ESTATE
GENETIC IMPROVEMENT TRIAL
(Planted in January 2016)
Table 1. FIELD: ‘CORTIJO ESTE’ (952 plants/ha)
Production History
(1) In the autumn of 2017, when the plants were only one year and a half old, Todolivo I-15P and a group of other varieties from the Genetic Improvement Programme produced over 500 kg of olive oil/ha. Of the traditional varieties control group, none of them produced olive oil that year, except Koroneiki, which reached production levels of around 500 kg/ha.
(2) Some traditional varieties, due to their high vigour, need specific management in order to be used in hedge form.
(3) On the 5th of June, 2021, a severe hailstorm struck the “La Mata” estate, causing substantial damage to crops planted in this farm.
Table 2. FIELD: ‘CORTIJO OESTE’ (1.143 plants/ha)
Production History
(1) In the autumn of 2017, when the plants were only one year and a half old, Todolivo I-15P and a group of other varieties from the Genetic Improvement Programme produced over 500 kg of olive oil/ha. Of the traditional varieties control group, none of them produced olive oil that year, except Koroneiki, which reached production levels of around 500 kg/ha.
(2) Some traditional varieties, due to their high vigour, need specific management in order to be used in hedge form.
(3) The heavy hailstorm that hit the “La Mata” estate on June 5, 2021, had little impact on this plot of land.
Table 3. FIELD: ‘LA BALSA’ (1.143 plants/ha)
(1) In the autumn of 2017, when the plants were only one year and a half old, Todolivo I-15P and a group of other varieties from the Genetic Improvement Programme produced over 500 kg of olive oil/ha. Of the traditional varieties control group, none of them produced olive oil that year, except Koroneiki, which reached production levels of around 500 kg/ha.
(2) Some traditional varieties, due to their high vigour, need specific management in order to be used in hedge form.
(3) The Leccino Clon I-117®, Chetoui Clon I-113®, Picholine Marocaine Clon I-118® and Coratina Clon I-114® varieties are also being tested in this field, together with the Todolivo I-15P variety.
(4) On the 5th of June, 2021, a severe hailstorm struck the “La Mata” estate, causing substantial damage to crops planted in this farm.
Damage caused by the severe hailstorm that struck the “La Mata” estate on the 5th of June, 2021
3rd Field Evaluation (Rainfed)
“El Calderito Alto” Research Centre
In February 2018, the third field evaluation was carried out at our “El Calderito Alto” rainfed Research Centre, where we planted 103 varieties of Olive Grove in Hedge: 72 of which came from the first and second phase of our Genetic Improvement Programme (including Todolivo I-15P), and the remaining 31 were an international selection of traditional varieties used as control crops.
In the two crops harvested by our company (in 2020 and in 2021), Todolivo I-15P yielded, in average, more kg of olive oil/ha than all traditional varieties to which it was compared.
Below is a sample of the average differences found when comparing some of these varieties:
- 159 kg of olive oil/ha more than the Arbosana Clon I-43®
- 273 kg of olive oil/ha more than the Koroneiki Clon I-38®
- 106 kg of olive oil/ha more than Arbequina Clon I-21®
- 195 kg of olive oil/ha more than Picual Clon I-11®
- 174 kg of olive oil/ha more than SikititaP
Todolivo I-15P has a set of morphological characteristics that make this variety suitable for rainfed cultivation.
Such as, for instance, its leathery leaves, which allow this variety to reduce evapotranspiration, save water and reduce water stress during the dry season, thus encouraging the proper ripening of the fruit.
On the other hand, since this variety is characterised by its open growth habit and its medium-to-low vigour, trees can be easily trained and maintained into a palmette shape, which helps closing gaps in each row
and quickly form the hedge.
Its reduced need for pruning allows for easy and economical agronomic management.
4th Field Evaluation
Irrigated trial at the “Las Hazuelas” Research Centre
The fourth evaluation was carried out at our “Las Hazuelas” Research Centre, where, in June 2018, we replicated the large-scale trial that we had already conducted with 103 varieties at “El Calderito Alto” Research Centre, but this time in rainfed and irrigated condition.
As an example, in the two crops harvested (in 2020 and in 2021), Todolivo I-15P yielded, in average:
- 111 kg of olive oil/ha more than the Arbosana Clon I-43®
- 397 kg of olive oil/ha more than the Koroneiki Clon I-38®
- 222 kg of olive oil/ha more than the Arbequina Clon I-21®
- 308 kg of olive oil/ha more than Picual Clon I-11®
- 208 kg of olive oil/ha more than the SikititaP
5th Field Evaluation
In May 2019, we carried out our fifth evaluation in a field located in the Portuguese municipality of Campo Maior, where we planted 38 preselected varieties obtained in our first crossing stage, in addition to the Arbosana I-43® clone.
In the autumn of 2021, we harvested the first crop, and Todolivo I-15P yielded 373 kg of olive oil/ha more than the Arbosana I-43® variety.
The data obtained on the two varieties were the following:
- Todolivo I-15P: 9,057 kg olives/ha, and 23% fat yield.
- Arbosana I-43®: 8,247 kg olives/ha, and 20.67% fat yield.
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