SustentOlive - Improvement of irrigation and fertirigation practices at olive farms in Trás-os-Montes for its the sustainability

Practical Problem: Although the importance of irrigation to increase productivity, it reduce unproductive time and mitigate the effect of alternate bearing. In this region, there is a lack of information of irrigation needs and the response of regional cultivars to deficit strategies to ensure rational use of water.

Objective: Improve irrigation practices for a more efficient water management, by adopting different deficit irrigation strategies and by improving the performance of irrigation systems that maximize irrigation efficiency and optimize water productivity, ensuring the Eco - Sustainability of olive cultivation

Expected Results :They will allow assessing the response of different Cvs. to diverse strategies of deficit irrigation, based either on the efficiency of water use, increasing productivity and olive oil quality. This, will allow an advance on economic yield of olive groves as a result of a cut in irrigation costs, increasing the competitiveness of the regional olive sector, both at national and international level.