Olive Cultivation

Popular Varieties With Their Yield

It has two types

Oil type :
Ascolanaterena, Aglandeau, Carolea, Canino, Frontoio, Pendolino.

Pickle type
: Ascolano, Coratina, Cornicobra, Grosseune, Mission, Picholine.

Imported from Israel: Barnea, Arbequina, Cortina, Picholine, Picual, Coraniki and Frontoio

Ascolanaterena
: Trees are compact type with black fruits. It is resistant to severe cold.

Frontoio: Fruits are medium and having purple black color.

Canino: Trees are spreading type and fruits are small.

Carolea: Trees are short and compact, fruits are large, oval shape and bright black color.

Coratina: Suitable for pickling. Fruits are large and oval shape. Resistant to cold and drought.

Ascolano
: Suitable for pickling. Resistant to cold. Fruits are large, spheroidal and black color on ripening.

Land Preparation

Plough land thoroughly and make land weed and clods free. Olive cannot survive in water logged conditions so care should be taken while preparing land.

Sowing

Time of sowing
In rainfed areas, ideal planting time for olive cultivation is from July to August. In high rainfall areas, planting should be delay. Whereas in irrigated areas, optimum time for cultivation is from January-February.

Spacing

Two months before planting, dig pits of 90cm x 90cm in poor soil and 60cm x 60cm in heavy soils, at distance of 8 meter. 

Method of sowing
Transplantation of seedlings in main field.

Seed

Seed Rate
When planting distance is kept about 8 meter, in one acre 60 trees are acquainted. When planting distance is 6m x 5m, plant population is 100 trees/acre where as in 8mx5m spacing, plant population is about 132 tree/acre.

Seed Treatment

Before sowing, soak stones/seeds in Caustic soda containing NaOH@10% to separate pulp from stones. After chemical treatment, wash seeds with running water.

Propagation

Propagation By seeds : Collect ripen fruits in the month of September-October. Do seed treatment as mention above. Then sow seeds in nursery at distance of 15cm between row and 5cm between seeds.

Propagation by cutting: Collect cuttings of 10-15cm from parent tree having 3-4 nodes. Before planting, treat cuttings with NAA@500ppm + IBA@3000ppm for 8-10 seconds. After root development, cuttings are taken out 11-12 week after planting. After hardening they are sown in nursery. Grafting can be done in month of March-April. For grafting Patch budding, T budding techniques are adopted.

Pruning and Training

Initially for 2-3 years, pruning is not required. At time of transplantation, provide 10 feet support to seedlings. Pruning of young tree can be carried out at any time, provided weather is clear and non-rainy. Avoid pruning in drought or water stress period. In bearing tree, carry out pruning after harvesting.

When tree become old, increased intensity of pruning. After pruning, disinfect wounds with bordeaux mixture.

Fertilizer

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre):

Age

FYM

(Kg)

CAN

(gm)

SSP

(gm)

MOP

(gm)

1st year 10 300 300 80
2nd year 15 600 600 160
3rd year 20 900 900 240
10th year 50 3000 3000 800

 

Nutrient Requirement (gm/acre):

Age

FYM

NITROGEN PHOSPHORUS POTASH
1st year 10 75 50 50
2nd year 15 150 100 100
3rd year 20 225 150 150
10th year 50 750 500 500

 

For one year old plant, apply well decomposed cowdung or FYM@10kg, Nitrogen@75gm, Phosphorus@50gm and Potash@50gm per plant in form of Calcium Ammonium Nitrate@300gm, SSP@300gm and MOP@80gm/plant. Double dose of nutrients every year and increased dose of FYM/cowdung@5kg every year. 

For irrigated areas, apply whole quantity of FYM, P and K fertilizer in October month. And for rainfed areas, apply FYM, P and K fertilizer with onset of winter Rains.

Apply nitrogen fertilizer in three doses. Apply half of nitrogen with onset of winter rains or after harvesting of fruits in case of bearing trees. Apply second dose of 1/4th of nitrogen, two months before flowering and last dose of nitrogen (remaining 1/4th dose) should be applied in monsoon rains (June-July).  

Irrigation

Well distributed rainfall of 100cm is required throughout its growing period. Flowering, blooming and fruit set are important stages for irrigation. Apply Irrigation, two weeks before flowering to ensure adequate flowering and minimization of flower bud drop. Also irrigation at blooming period and one month after fruit set is necessary. Also apply irrigation in hot and prolonged dry conditions.  

Weed Control

Take interculture operation like weeding and hoeing to keep check on weed growth also to provide soil aeration. To control weeds chemically, Depending upon intensity apply Glyphosate@800-1000 ml/acre in 150ltr of water for two-three times during entire growing period. To control grass weeds, apply Simazine+Diuron@800 gm/acre.

Plant protection

Olive Fly
  • Pest and their control:

Olive Fly: It is a major pest of Olive and causes considerable damage. Larva feeds on fruits and cause fruit drop and rotting of pulp.

To check the infestation use yellow sticky traps.

Root Rot
  • Disease and their control:

Root Rot: It is mainly caused by a soil borne fungus. Infected tree become weak and deloped thin canopy. Bark and outer root show discoloration. In severe conditions, tree get dead.
Before sowing apply neem cake@60 kg/acre to the soil. Treat seeds with T. viride @ 4 gm/kg of seeds to reduce root rot incidence. If infection is observed do spot drenching of Carbendazim@1 gm/lit at the base of affected plants as well as surrounding healthy plants.

Leaf Spot

Leaf Spot: It developed sooty-mold on the underside of the leaves. Also causes yellowing and then leaf drop.
If infestation of disease is observed in field, spray crop with Copper Oxychloride@3 gm/litre or Mancozeb@2.5 gm/ltr, 3 to 4 times in every 15 days interval.

Canker

Canker: Developed galls or swelling on branches and kills small shoots and branches.
 To control plant from canker, spray COC@18 gm with Streptocycline @6 gms in 10 ltr water. Repeat the spray after 30 days interval.

Wilt

Wilt: Serious fungal disease of olive crop. Sudden defoliation of leaves in growing season is major symptoms. In severe conditions, tree get wilt and entire plant get dead.
Treat seeds with Thiram@3gm/Ltr water or Carbendazim@2gm/Ltr water of water before sowing and avoid early sowing in badly affected areas. Drench the infected area with Carbendazim@5gm/Ltr water.

Peacock Spot

Peacock Spot: Also known as bird eye spots. It appears on leaves and developed muddy green to black circular spots. In severe infestation, spots can be seen on fruits and stems.
This disease has no cure. Before planting, disinfect soil by soil solarization process.

Harvesting

Right time of harvesting is necessary. Early harvesting will leads to low oil content with bitterness and whereas delay in harvesting, harvesting of over ripe olive causes oil with higher acidity.
For pickle purpose, harvesting is carried out 29-30 weeks after flowering. At time of harvesting, firmness, color and degree of bitterness are taken into account. Fruit changes its color to purple black color.

Post-Harvest

Rajasthan, launches its own olive oil brand "Raj Olive Oil", first Indian olive oil produced in the country.

Soil

It can be cultivated on wide range of soil. For optimum yield, it required well drained, deep, fertile loamy or clay loam soils. 6-7.5 is Ideal pH range of soil. Avoid water logging soils for its cultivation.

General Information

Olive is evergreen and oldest shrub cultivated throughout world. It is mainly cultivated for oil purpose. Oil is extracted from its seeds, is edible and having many health benefits like it is a good source of vitamin C, control cholesterol level, regulates blood pressure, prevent cancer and many more. Although it is well known from thousand year, in India it's commercial cultivation is on limited scale. Considering its health benefits and demand in international market, India has decided to encourage olive farming on large scale. Various projects are started in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, J & K and Himachal Pradesh to increased olive cultivation areas. Rajasthan government announces various subsidy on olive farming. In Rajasthan, near about 800 ha of area is under olive cultivation.