Pruning and Harvesting of Olive Groves in Spain

Three types of olive growing systems coexist in Spain, each of them with specific pruning and harvesting requirements. The traditional system is based on wide plantation frames (usually around 100 trees/ha) and usually with several trunks per olive tree. The intensive system is based on an open center or vase shape with one trunk per tree and higher tree density, up to 400 trees/ha. Finally, the hedgerow growing system has planting densities of up to 2000 trees/ha, where trees are trained to form continuous hedgerows. In both traditional and intensive systems, initial pruning aims to obtain a permanent tree structure with several main branches, producing canopies with a large surface. After several years, renovation of the main branches is carried out when trees reach a very low leaf/wood ratio. In the hedgerow growing system, harvesting is made by straddle machines that work over the hedgerow. Therefore, a tree size limited by the dimensions of the machinery is required. This imposes a very different pruning strategy. A particularity of the pruning of this system is that there are different approaches to carry out the formation and maintenance of the hedgerow.