‘Olive Growing’ is an English translation of the 5th revised and enlarged edition of the classic Spanish reference book, El Cultivo Del Olivo (2004). The English edition is copyrighted to RIRDC/AOA and was officially released at the 2010 Australian Olive Expo. The translation and editing of the book are excellent.

It is clearly written and easy to read, features that do not always happen with translated technical texts. There are multiple authors contributing to the 20 chapters, all of whom appear to be Spanish and working in Spanish academies. Not surprisingly therefore, reading the book has something of the feel of Spanish rather than Australian groves.

However, in fairness, much of the content should be applicable to the Australian situation. The book comprehensively covers most aspects of olive growing. Each chapter commences with a detailed Table of Contents with numerically arranged headings and subheadings.

This enables the reader to get an idea of what is contained in the chapter and how to locate it. However, a good index would have been of benefit for locating specific subjects or topics described in more than one chapter.

In Chapter 1, “Olive growing in the world and in Spain”, Australia is reported to have 1.9 million trees on 18,700 hectares (based on 2003 figures). While accurate statistics about the size of the Australian industry are difficult to come by, current industry estimates are in the vicinity of 10 million trees on 30,000 hectares (RIRDC, 2010).

This indicates that there has been a >5-fold increase in the number of trees planted in just 7 years. I raise this point partly to demonstrate the recent dramatic growth in olive plantings in Australia, but also because the Preface of the book purports to be “a compendium of substantive progress achieved in olive groves over the past 20 years”.

This is in fact the 20 years up to 2003, since the 5th edition was released in 2004, so obviously it contains no new information published during the past 7 years. The Chapter on “Botany and Morphology” was interesting although the technical jargon was a bit mystifying for a lay reader like myself who did Botany 101 almost half a century ago.

Some clearly labeled line drawings would have better helped one understand the micrographs of sectioned tissues. I particularly enjoyed browsing through the chapter describing and illustrating the large number of olive varieties available in Spain and other countries and wondering whether any of these may be better alternatives to the Italian varieties that seemed to be most popular when many of us were considering varieties for our groves.

Thinking outside the square in terms of new varieties may be a way forward for the ‘boutique’ producer. Gooramadda Olives provides an excellent role model in this regard. I would never have previously believed that you could produce national Best Oil in Show using UC1346 and Hardy’s Mammoth. Importing alternative unusual varieties from Europe or elsewhere could prove a bit of a headache as well as expensive for the small producer.

However, if this could be achieved, the chapter on ‘Propagation methods” provides a detailed account on how to produce your own trees. Chapters on “Fruiting and Production and “Ripening” are very good and provide a theoretical as well as practical basis for understanding how to get the best out of your trees “Planting” covers much more than the Chapter heading indicates. Climatic requirements, assessment of soils, correcting soil problems and designing the grove are included, as well as planting out and subsequent management of the young trees.

Essential reading for anyone planning a new grove or for reflection on mistakes made by some of us with established groves. While this chapter and the subsequent one on “Soil management systems” are written for Spanish conditions, the principles should also apply to our conditions.

An exception might be the focus of tillage, the most widespread soil management system in Spanish groves but not used, as far as I am aware, in Australia. “Fertilisation”, “Irrigation” and “Fertigation” are presented in separate quite detailed chapters that present the practical above a theoretical foundation that gives the reader a better understanding of the practices involved.

The tone of the Chapter on “Pruning” is set by a quote from a renowned Spanish agronomist J Miguel Ortega Nieto — “pruning is totally necessary, given the organization, physiology and longevity of olive trees; it is based on biological as well as agricultural principles and, if these are not fulfilled, the double aim of producing and 11 conserving tree vitality is not achieved”.

The chapter explains these principles and the practices that flow from them extremely well. No up to date book on olive growing would be complete without a chapter on mechanisation and this one covers it all – equipment for soil preparation, pruning, spraying, applying fertilizers and, of course, harvesting. I was surprised to see the range of machines used to collect olives off the ground in Spain, including blowers and vacuum cleaners and wondered whether olives harvested in this way were destined for the ‘EVOO’ subsequently exported to the antipodes.

The chapters on Pests and Diseases run to some 127 pages or almost 20% of the book even without any mention of the Australian native, Olive Lace Bug. A salutatory reminder to us about the importance of maintaining effective national quarantine particularly for pests such as olive fruit fly and olive moths (prays) which are major problems in Spain, The chapter on ‘Virgin olive oil production’ declared that while organoleptic profiles can be influenced by the variety of olive, none is ‘congenitally defective’ and “only those affected by pests or diseases or those that have dropped to the ground before harvest, could be said to produce an “inevitably altered oil”.

Given the use of olives harvested off the ground and the plethora of pests and diseases the Spanish grower has to contend with, one wonders how much “inevitably altered oil” may be produced in Spain. The section on oil processing provides an interesting overview but would probably be entry-level information to any professional processor, although there were some interesting graphs on organoleptic attributes and defects resulting from different extraction systems.

There is a final section in this chapter on refining methods and I was surprised to learn that refining of virgin olive oils is commonly done in Spain to satisfy marketing requirements of a ‘brand’. Astoundingly, approximately 65% of the total oil packed in Spain in 1996/97 and intended solely for direct consumption is refined. This amounted to a staggering volume of >324 megalitres. The refining processes make horrifying reading for lovers of EVOO.

Ironically, immediately following the descriptions of refining is a Chapter on “Olive oil quality”. The different criteria that define quality are described and discussed, as are factors that may affect it. This should provide relevant background information for those who may wish to comment on the recently released Draft Australian/New Zealand Standard for olive oils and olive pomace oil. I noted that no reference to any Australian research work on oil quality was included in the bibliography.

Spain is the world’s largest producer and exporter of green table olives. The processing of green and ripe olives is covered in some detail. The former are routinely debittered with sodium hydroxide to hydrolyse the glycoside oleuropeine, mainly responsible for bitterness. However the caustic treatment has other complex effects including providing suitable cultural conditions for lactic fermentation to occur when the olives are placed in brine.

Processing of black olives utilises methods originally developed in California (alkaline oxidation of ripe olives to give black colour) or in Greece and Turkey for untreated black olives. The chapter includes an account of the microbiology of fermentation as well as how to deal with waste effluent. In Spain there is an estimated 200 megalitres of liquid waste produced annually from commercial processing of green olives. I was not sure of the relevance of a Chapter on “Olive oil in human diet and health” in a book titled “Olive growing”.

However, the chapter is well written and informative and the topic is one about which olive growers should have some knowledge. The final chapter about the “Economics of olive oil” pertains specifically to the Spanish industry although the analysis of relative wage costs of different management practices required to operate a grove may be of interest to those who employ labour. On our grove the wage bill is $0 except for a bottle of red at the end of the day! In summary, this is a monumental tome written by Spaniards for in the main, Spanish conditions.

However, obviously decision makers at RIRDC and the AOA felt it was worthy of translating into English, albeit 7 years after it was originally published in Spanish. I am inclined to agree with them. As far as I am aware, there is little else out there as comprehensive about all aspects of olive growing available in the English language.

As indicated several times already, the use of well explained theory to underpin sound practical advice is an important feature of this book and the detail provided in most chapters makes it valuable reference source for all Australian olive growers. I will be purchasing a copy. Kevin Whithear Acknowledgement – Thanks to Amanda Bailey at the Olive Centre, Cabarlah QLD for generously lending GSOGA a copy of the book for this review.

The book is available from the Olive Centre at the discounted price of $110 + GST for AOA members only.