The olive sector is facing the driest season of this century

Drought has become the involuntary protagonist of Expoliva, the great international fair of one of the most important traditional sectors of Andalusia, a leading region in olive groves worldwide with more than 1.5 million hectares, which account for 61% of the national extension dedicated to this crop.

The region produces on average more than one million tons of oil (around 80% of the national total), so that almost two out of every five liters of olive oil consumed in the world is Andalusian.. At the provincial level, Jaén stands out, which concentrates almost 50% of Andalusian production. The olive sector generates in Andalusia more than 23.5 million wages (40% regional agricultural employment) and economically exceeds 2,800 million euros, therefore it contributes more than 28% of the value of agricultural production in the region. Some 300 towns in Andalusia depend on the olive grove.

With these data, Expoliva was counting on celebrating its 40th anniversary in style, since this great biennial meeting was launched in 1983, bringing together the best of a sector that has not stopped innovating, committing to quality and winning markets. international.

However, the critical situation of the field after four consecutive years of little rain and total drought this year has become a serious threat. Already last year, Andalusia produced 652,000 tons of oil, which represented a drop of 52% over the previous year. And, this year, farmers fear that the situation will get even worse, according to the forecasts they manage.

Among these data, it stands out that for a decade (2012) the province of Jaén has not had a wet year —rainfall greater than 800 m³/year—; since the 2017/2018 campaign, no more than 600 m³/year has been recorded, and since 2020 rainfall has been less than 400 m³/year, according to a study carried out by COAG Jaén technicians, in which precipitation data has been analyzed , singular temperatures and the desertification index, from 1902 to the present.

This agrarian organization has demanded a “rescue” for olive farms in the province, also extendable to other crops and agricultural activities as a result of the drought.

It is not the only institution that has spoken in Expoliva in search of solutions to the “critical” situation of the Andalusian countryside, in general, and the olive grove, in particular.. The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, has once again demanded this Thursday from there, in Jaén, that the central government put into operation and the water works that are within its competence.

On the other hand, the head of the regional administration has insisted on the need for Spain, as Italy has done, to ask the EU to modify the objectives of the Next Generation Funds so that the emergency works due to this drought can be also subject to these aids in the form of subsidies.

The president of the Provincial Council of Jaén, Francisco Reyes, has pointed out that we are living in “a particularly complicated moment” where farmers “continue to look at the sky with concern, pending whether it rains or not”, especially when the production figures of the last campaign “have not been good at all”.

Reyes, who has highlighted that in this edition “all expectations” have been exceeded, has thanked the joint effort of administrations and sponsors so that “this great showcase of the olive grove and olive oil is expected every two years as that great opportunity of the sector”, where, in addition to showing the advances that have been made in technology, innovation and development around the olive grove and its related industries, it also becomes a forum for reflection and debate.

And it is that, despite the situation of the drought, the participants and attendees at Expoliva show their optimism for the future after the “good work” carried out in recent years, in which the sector has been gaining worldwide prestige for its quality and conquering new markets to achieve exports in 2022 worth 3,200 million euros, which is 24.3% more than the previous year.

Expoliva Fair

The more than 32,000 square meters of exhibition space made available to Expoliva are fully covered, with almost 300 stands, more than 1,500 companies represented and some 5,400 brands present at the fair.

The twenty-first edition of Expoliva, which turns 40, fully recovers normality after the previous edition held in September 2021, which was conditioned by the pandemic. With more than a dozen participating countries in the exhibition space, in this edition there is a guest country for the first time, Tunisia.

The Jaén Provincial Council has a 128-square-meter stand at Expoliva 2023 in which the Jaén Selección 2023 extra virgin olive oils are present as standard bearers of the best extra virgin olive oil in the province. In addition, this space will host these days the presentation of the new Jaén Selección 2023 promotional tasting box, the awards ceremony of the Spanish Association of Olive Municipalities (AEMO), tastings and.

In this edition of Expoliva 2023, the XXI Scientific-Technical Symposium will also take place, focused mainly on health and the Mediterranean diet. As part of this event, the Jaén Provincial Council organizes on Friday one of its thematic forums dedicated to oil tourism, where academics and companies related to the sector, and from an international perspective, will put on the table the different actions and strategies that are carried out to promote tourism in the olive grove environment.