COMPARATIVE TRIAL OF OIL OLIVE CULTIVARS UNDER DRY AND IRRIGATED CONDITIONS IN SOUTHERN SPAIN - PRELIMINARY RESULTS

This trial, planted in 1999 in Córdoba, is part of the first olive network of varietal experimentation established in Spain in which eight Autonomous Communities participate. Ten cultivars were studied: ‘Picual’, ‘Arbequina’, ‘Cornicabra’, ‘Hojiblanca’, ‘Picudo’, ‘Pico Limón’, ‘Empeltre’, ‘Frantoio’, ‘Lechín de Sevilla’ and ‘Nevadillo Blanco de Jaén’. The trial was planted under both irrigated and dry conditions. A split-plot factorial design with ten replicates and one tree per elementary plot was used. At the seventh year of planting the cultivars ‘Picual’, ‘Pico Limón’, ‘Arbequina’ and ‘Picudo’ stand out. They all enter bearing early, at the 3rd year of planting under both irrigated and dry farming conditions. Among them, ‘Picual’, ‘Arbequina’ and ‘Picudo’ produce the best crops and have a high oil percentage. The overall behavior of ‘Picual’ and ‘Arbequina’ is better under irrigation. ‘Pico Limón’ is less productive under dry farming than the previous cultivars but also improves greatly with irrigation. Its oil percentage was the highest among the cultivars studied. It could be a good alternative under our conditions. ‘Hojiblanca’ is an outstanding cultivar under dry-farming. ‘Cornicabra’ behaves the same as ‘Hojiblanca’, it fares better under dry-farming, although it produces less and its oil content is inferior. ‘Lechín de Sevilla’, also of average precocity, is less productive than the previous cultivars even under irrigation. ‘Frantoio’, ‘Empeltre’ and ‘Nevadillo Blanco de Jaén’ do not seem to adapt well to our growing conditions.