Crop

Harvest dates in Northern hemisphere:

- white flowers bloom in olive trees in April, depending on countries and meteorology;

- in June, the colour of olive changes to be first green, then violet and finally black. The fruit is slowly filled with oil;

- in September, green olives are harvested;

- later, in December, black olives are cropped.

Harvest is still made on a traditional way. Olives are beaten from the trees and collected on the floor or picked directly from the tree and put on a basket. Modern techniques use hoovers or machines that shake the trees.

Olive fields have between 100 and 250 trees per hectare. Each olive tree produces an average of 15 to 50 kg. of olives. Depending on variety and pressing method, a litre of olive oil requires between 4 and 6 kg. of olives. Therefore, olive oil production may get to 3000 litres per hectare and year.

Olive yields are very variable from a year to another depending on how the tree is treated and by nature olive tree production changes by threfold every two years.

Olive tree (Olea europea) is a robust tree that may live for several years. It needs little water and is generally grown in dry land. The tree can resist to cold weather but it might be affected by long frost which would destroy leaf buds and reduce production considerably. If cultivated properly, an olive tree can start producing olives after 5 years. However, the yield is optimum only after tens of years.