Innovative systems for water management in olive growing (INNOIDRIOL)
CSR 2023-2027 Liguria - SRG01
Goals
The project aims to promote an innovative and replicable water management model in Ligurian terraced olive groves, a context particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and critical issues related to water supply and distribution. Through the testing and adoption of technical, digital, and agronomic solutions already validated in other production contexts, the project aims to support local farms on a path of concrete and sustainable innovation, capable of combining efficiency, ease of use, and adaptability to the local context.
Terraced olive groves, a unique production and landscape asset for Liguria, pose specific challenges to irrigation management: complex orography, high microclimatic variability, limited accessibility, and limited water resources. To address these challenges, the project is structured around three main operational objectives:
- Define technical protocols for the correct sizing and strategic positioning of water storage points (such as tanks or reservoirs), based on the estimate of the olive tree's irrigation needs, phenological and production analysis, and the orographic assessment of the terraced olive groves using digital terrain models (DEMs).
- To validate, under real-world operating conditions, the effectiveness of a decision support system (DSS) for irrigation management , already developed in other contexts, integrating it with monitoring data collected through soil and plant sensors and multispectral and thermal drone surveys, in order to evaluate its usefulness, usability and accuracy in fragmented hilly environments.
- To adopt and evaluate controlled deficit irrigation (RDI) protocols in terraced olive groves , to verify their ability to reduce irrigation volumes while maintaining production yield and improving oil quality, particularly with regard to polyphenol content and other nutritional and sensory parameters.
The project will be accompanied by targeted dissemination, training, and practical transfer of innovations, with the aim of creating easily usable tools and operational strategies that can be replicated by other olive oil companies in the region.
The project
INNOIDRIOL: a field trial project launches in Liguria to introduce innovative water management systems in olive growing.
INNOIDRIOL "Innovative systems for water management in olive growing" has officially launched.
The new cooperation project, funded by the Liguria Regional Rural Development Complement 2023–2027, addresses one of the most pressing challenges facing Ligurian olive growing: adapting to climate change. This is achieved through the introduction and optimization of innovative systems for organizing, managing, and verifying technologies for the storage, supply, distribution, and rational and efficient use of water resources in olive growing.
The project is scientifically led by Professor Giovanni Caruso of the Enrico Avanzi Agro-Environmental Research Center at the University of Pisa, in collaboration with Florcoop Sanremo (leader), a leading agricultural organization for Western Liguria, and CIPAT Imperia, which specializes in training and technical dissemination.
In recent years, Ligurian olive growing, particularly that based on the Taggiasca cultivar, has suffered a sharp decline in production. Among the main causes, water scarcity, high temperatures, and reduced rainfall have significantly contributed to the decline, especially during the most important phenological phases, which determine fruit set, drupe growth, and, consequently, final yield.
The introduction of technological innovations for more efficient management of water resources is, at the regional level, now more urgent than ever. Interventions must be made to the overall management of irrigation practices , through calculating the water balance, understanding the crop's evapotranspiration (ETc) and crop coefficients (Kc), choosing high-performance drip lines suited to the desired production goal, and distributing water based on soil moisture content measured using sensors .
An experimental project in the field, directly in the Ligurian olive groves
One of INNOIDRIOL's distinctive features is that the experiment will be conducted directly in the field, in the olive groves of Western Liguria. For production to be economically sustainable, higher rainfall or irrigation is necessary. Generally, in years characterized by severe drought, the ability to apply even low volumes of water through irrigation can bring significant benefits in both the quantity and quality of production. In fact, the increased production of irrigated olive groves compared to those grown dry is greater the drier the climate and the lower the soil's water storage capacity. The project addresses precisely this critical point, providing companies with innovative tools and protocols for more efficient, sustainable, and resilient irrigation management.
A strategic project for the future of Ligurian olive growing
In an area where the olive tree is an environmental, landscape, and economic asset, INNOIDRIOL represents a decisive step toward more resilient and innovative management, capable of combining environmental sustainability, business competitiveness, and adaptation to climate change.
A project that comes from the territory and returns to the territory
INNOIDRIOL is designed to be useful, replicable, and immediately applicable throughout the region. The project's results will be shared through demonstration days, technical meetings, training activities, and dissemination materials, so that the validated innovations can be rapidly transferred to Ligurian olive oil producers.
The developments