The “Land of pyres”, namely “La Terra dei Fuochi”, is an area of Campania region (South-Italy), highly inhabited and comprises between the Provinces of Naples and Caserta, sadly known worldwide for ...the criminal activities related to the illegal waste disposal and burning. These fires, concomitantly with traffic emissions, might be the source of potential toxic element (PTE) dangerous for the human health and causing pathologies. In the framework of Correlation Health–Environment project, funded by the Campania region, eight municipalities (of area “Land of pyres”) and three remote sites have been bio-monitored using the olive (Olea europaea L.) plants as biomonitors. Leaves of olive plants were collected in each assayed municipality and the concentration of 11 metal(loid)s was evaluated by means of ICP-OES. Our findings revealed that the air of these municipalities was limitedly contaminated by PTE; in fact, only Sb, Al and Mn were detected in the olive leaves collected in some of the assayed municipalities and showed a high enrichment factors (EC) manly due, probably, to the vehicular traffic emissions. Furthermore, the concentrations of the other assayed PTEs were lower than those of Sb, Al and Mn. For these reasons we suppose that their emissions in the troposphere have been and are limited, and they mainly have a crustal origin. Even if our data are very comforting for those urban area, regarded by many as one of the most contaminated one in Italy, a great environment care, in any case, is always needed.
•PTEs represent a serious risk for ecosystems and human health due to their persistence and biotoxicity.•Olive trees are good bioindicators to assess the air suitability at the “Land of pyres” area.•The air at the “Land of pyres” area was only marginally polluted by PTE.•Enrichment factors revealed anthropogenic origins for Sb, Al and Mn elements.
Nowadays, fibers extracted from natural resources have a wide range of promising applications, including the prospect to be used as reinforcing material in polymer composites. In this context, the ...purpose of this study has been to extract fibers from different parts of the olive tree (leaves, small and large branches) and characterize their physico-chemical, thermal, and morphological properties using advanced equipment. Olive leaf (OL) fiber showed asymmetrical size distribution, as compared to those extracted from small olive branches (OSS), and big olive branches (OBS). The OL fiber exhibited 64.1% crystallinity, which is lower than that of the OSS fiber—with 65.4% crystallinity. Thermal analysis revealed that the OBS and OSS fibers are more thermally stable, compared to the OL fibers. The obtained results concluded that olive tree fibers can be suitable for being used as reinforcement material to develop polymer composites for various lightweight applications.
In Algeria, there is an increasing extension of olive grove cultivation, it is essential to identify the key factors that contribute that drive olive grove yields in drought-prone regions, such as ...steppe. This necessity is becoming imperative for policymakers within the agricultural sector, as it will enable them to make informed decisions regarding more effective strategies for expanding olive tree plantations across the country. This paper focuses on analysing the olive tree production systems in two provinces in the Algerian steppes: Djelfa and M'sila. These provinces represent new areas for olive cultivation and demonstrate successful agricultural programs in Algeria. The paper proceeds to address the question: what are the primary factors influencing olive grove yields? This inquiry is pursued by investigating a total of 20 olive growers, ten from each province. The findings from our research indicate that olive groves situated at higher altitudes (above 600 meters above sea level), on gently sloping terrain (ranging from 0 to 0.03), and managed through the application of technical itineraries and effective management practices by well-educated and younger farmers, tend to yield better results in terms of olive production. Furthermore, the impact of governmental subsidies and policies related to land tenure regularization also exerts a significant effect on enhancing production and yielding improved outcomes.
•The architecture of a process-based model for olive tree is presented.•The model was validated across different climates, soils and management practices.•The model was able to faithfully reproduce ...different processes of olive groves.
This paper describes the architecture of a process-based model that simulates on a daily time step growth and development of an olive agroecosystem, including the olive tree and grass cover growth and their competition for water. The key process of the model is the simulation of daily potential biomass increase for olive tree and grass cover that may be reduced depending on water availability. The model includes a phenological sub-model simulating the sequence of olive tree vegetative and reproductive stages for determining changes in biomass allocation and the timing of possible environmental stresses (heat and water stress) that may reduce final yield.
The model was calibrated and validated in Tuscany region by exploiting a data set covering heterogeneous climatic features as well as soil types and management practices existing in this region. The results pointed out that the model is able to faithfully reproduce water balance of the system, biomass accumulation and yield of olive tree and grass cover biomass. We concluded that this model is a useful prognostic tool to test the effectiveness of management practices for improving economic viability of olive tree cultivation.
Terracing allows cultivation even in hilly regions but does not permit the use of conventional heavy machinery. Olive trees, grown on terraced lands, are harvested with a handheld long-shafted ...harvester that shakes the branches of the trees and makes olives fall over nets arranged around the trees. This relatively heavy and unbalanced hand-hold tool causes fatigue and articular-muscular disease to the operators. This paper presents a lightweight exoskeleton developed to help in the carrying and operating of such tools, reducing human effort and the incidence of long-term pathologies to the operators. This work describes the kinematics and design of the proposed exoskeleton, which is passive and “minimal”. A prototype of the exoskeleton has been produced and tested in the field.
•Wastewaters present challenges for sustained long-term use in olive production.•Organics and plant nutrients in the effluents are typically beneficial but depend on dosajes.•Soil conditions can be ...affected if salts and trace elements are not monitored.•Untreated wastewaters from the many industries have limited long-term potential for reuse.•Health risk of table olives and olive oil is very low.
Olive trees are iconic to the Mediterranean landscape and in recent times, have expanded to other regions across the globe that share similar climatic conditions. Olive oil production benefits from irrigation, but with a changing climate and uncertainty in precipitation patterns, wastewaters will likely play a larger role supplementing irrigation water requirements. However, due to their relatively poor quality, wastewaters present challenges for sustained long-term use in olive production. Wastewaters include all effluents from municipalities, agricultural drainage, animal production facilities, agricultural processing and industrial processes. This review focuses on potential opportunities and limitations of sustaining olive oil production in the Mediterranean region using wastewater of various sources. The primary challenges for using such wastewaters include concerns related to salinity, sodicity, metals and trace elements, nutrients, organics, and pathogens. Organics and plant nutrients in the effluents are typically beneficial but depend on dosages.
Many studies have shown that saline wastewaters have been successfully used to irrigate olives in Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan and Tunisia. Still, olive varieties and rootstocks have different tolerances to salinity and could respond differently and oil quality may improve or be compromised. Salts and trace elements need to be monitored in plants and soil to make sure accumulation does not continue from year to year and that soil physical conditions are not affected. Some food industries generate effluents with suitable characteristics for irrigation but one must balance the benefits (e.g. addition of nutrients), detriments (e.g. addition of salts or other limiting chemicals) and costs when determining the feasibility and practicality of reuse. Long-term accumulation of trace elements and metals will likely limit the feasibility of using industrial-originating effluents without treatment processes that would remove the toxic constituents prior to reuse. Therefore, untreated wastewaters from the many industries have limited long-term potential for reuse at this time. Application of olive mill wastewater may be agronomically and economically beneficial, particularly as a local disposal solution, but there are concerns associated with high-concentrations of polyphenols that may be phytotoxic and toxic to soil microbial populations.
With regards to human safety, risk of contamination of table olives and olive oil is very low because irrigation methods deliver water below the canopy, fruits are not picked from the ground, processing itself eliminates pathogens and the irrigation season typically ends days or weeks before the harvest (depending on the climate condition). Finally, considering physiological, nutritional and intrinsic characteristics of this species, it is clear that olive trees are appropriate candidates for the reuse of recycled water as an irrigation source.
Olive tree growing is an important economic activity in many countries, mostly in the Mediterranean Basin, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and California. Although recent intensification techniques ...organize olive groves in hedgerows, most olive groves are rainfed and the trees are scattered (as in Spain and Italy, which account for 50% of the world's olive oil production). Accurate measurement of trees biovolume is a first step to monitor their performance in olive production and health. In this work, we use one of the most accurate deep learning instance segmentation methods (Mask R-CNN) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) images for olive tree crown and shadow segmentation (OTCS) to further estimate the biovolume of individual trees. We evaluated our approach on images with different spectral bands (red, green, blue, and near infrared) and vegetation indices (normalized difference vegetation index-NDVI-and green normalized difference vegetation index-GNDVI). The performance of red-green-blue (RGB) images were assessed at two spatial resolutions 3 cm/pixel and 13 cm/pixel, while NDVI and GNDV images were only at 13 cm/pixel. All trained Mask R-CNN-based models showed high performance in the tree crown segmentation, particularly when using the fusion of all dataset in GNDVI and NDVI (F1-measure from 95% to 98%). The comparison in a subset of trees of our estimated biovolume with ground truth measurements showed an average accuracy of 82%. Our results support the use of NDVI and GNDVI spectral indices for the accurate estimation of the biovolume of scattered trees, such as olive trees, in UAV images.
•Climate change is projected to have adverse impacts on olive yields in Alentejo;•Future yields decrease 15–20% (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) without irrigation;•Irrigation is tested under future RCP scenarios ...as an adaptation measure;•Irrigation allows to maintain future yields in range with the present values ±1%;•Under future uncertainty, other adaption measures may also be needed.
Climate change projections for Southern Europe reveal warming and drying trends for the upcoming decades, bringing important challenges to Portuguese olive orchards in particular. We analyzed irrigation as an adaptation measure to ensure the future sustainability of olive tree yields in Alentejo, the main olive producing area in Portugal. A dynamic crop model was used to simulate olive tree yields over the baseline (1981–2005) and two future scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, 2021–2080), using a 4 member-ensemble of state-of-the-art climate model chains. Climate change projections point to an increase in mean temperature (of up to 2 °C by 2080) and potential evapotranspiration (40−50 mm), while a decrease in precipitation (-80 to −90 mm) and actual evapotranspiration (-50 to −70 mm), under both future scenarios. Future yield decreases 15–20% (for RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) and accumulated losses can reach -8 t/ha to −10 t/ha by 2080. This decrease is due to enhanced heat and water stress under future climate conditions. As an adaptation measure, irrigation was simulated, but only applied at a certain water stress level. The results indicate higher yields due to this adaptation strategy, in range with the present values (±1%), thus alleviating the projected yield decreases in the future. The amount of water required for irrigation ranges from 60 to 85 mm, depending on the RCP, which corresponds to 0.6–1 times the projected decrease in precipitation. However, this value can reach up to 2 times for one climate model chain. We conclude that while irrigation is a feasible adaptation measure against the threats of climate change in Alentejo olive orchards, this strategy may be threatened by the scarcity of water resources. Outlining appropriate, timely and cost-effective adaptation measures is critical for the sustainability of both the environment and the Alentejo olive sector.
Waste oil from olive oil extraction industry was used, instead of soybean oil, in heavy roosters’ diet in order to evaluate birds’ reproductive parameters. A total of forty roosters were housed ...individually in boxes with 1.2 m². Two experimental diets were used: control diet, based on corn, soybean meal, and soybean oil; and test diet, where soybean oil was totally replaced by waste oil. In order to verify weight gain and feed intake, animals were individually weighed weekly. Seven semen collections were performed with fifteen-day interval. Reproductive variables analyzed sperm volume, motility, concentration, and morphology. No statistical difference (p > 0.05) was observed between treatments at the different collection periods for the variables sperm volume, motility, and concentration. There was a statistically significant difference between treatments for body weight in periods three (p = 0.04), and seven (p = 0.04). Statistical differences (p = 0.01) were also observed between treatments for abnormal sperm morphology. Among collection periods, statistical difference was observed for motility (p = 0.00), and sperm concentration (p = 0.01). Total replacement of soybean oil by waste oil from olive oil extraction in young heavy roosters’ diets does not affect sperm volume, motility, and concentration; reduces defects in sperm tail, and promotes better weight gain control.
•X. fastidiosa eco-epidemiological model (XEM) describes the continuous spread of Xf.•XEM allows to evaluate different risk reducing options and management practices.•Vector and weed control ...intervention efficacy resulted as key factors for eradication.
Knowledge on the dynamics of Xylella fastidiosa infection is an essential element for the effective management of new foci. In this study, we propose an Eco-epidemiological Model (XEM) describing the infection dynamics of X. fastidiosa outbreaks. XEM can be applied to design disease management strategies and compare their level of efficacy. XEM is a spatial explicit mechanistic model for short-range spread of X. fastidiosa considering: i) the growth of the bacterium in the host plant, ii) the acquisition of the pathogen by the vector and its transmission to host plants, iii) the vector population dynamics, iv) the dispersal of the vector. The model is parametrized based on data acquired on the spread of X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca in olive groves in the Apulia region. Four epidemiological scenarios were considered combining host susceptibility and vector abundance. Eight management strategies were compared testing several levels of vector control efficacy, plant cutting radius, time to detection and intervention. Simulation results showed that the abundance of the vector is the key factor determining the spread rate of the pathogen. Vector control efficacy and time to detection and intervention emerged as the key factors for an effective eradication strategy. XEM proved to be a suitable tool to support decision making for the drafting and management of emergency plans related to new outbreaks.
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