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Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

nature.com

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Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#111

Post by Retric »

scalio wrote: post #110

I recently read Biodiversos by Stefano Mancuso and Carlo Petrini, the founder of the slow food movement. It's basically a discussion between the two where they lay out the big problems with our production and consumption of food. For instance, concentrating on making single kinds as productive as possible instead of cultivating variety is extremely dangerous, as shown by this event. The great Irish famine is maybe th…

I don’t know about dangerous.

We have a wide range of crops and the loss of a single one is only ever a regional problem. The loss of any one crop be that something minor like strawberries or major like corn is just not that big a deal globally.

Now locally yea it can be a huge issue, but the tradeoff of lower productivity every year vs the low odds in any one year of a problem make this fairly complex balancing act.

Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#112

Post by adreamingsoul »

I also see a third option, let nature run its course.

Yes, that means we will reduce the supply of Olive oil. But, if they follow through with the quarantine practices, it will destroy hundreds of years of root growth, diversity, and soil health.

Why do humans think they can stop the force of nature? We only make it worse for ourselves when we attempt to "control" nature.

/endrant

Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#113

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

Cyph0n wrote: post #78
YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is olive oil- it's just not extra virgin olive oil, produced by olive flesh (i.e. not the seeds) and only by mechanical extraction (i.e. no heat or chemical processing). The fraud is in the fact that it is advertised as extra virgin, the highest recognised quality, when it's not. Also, it is Italian, only not purely so. It is often mixed in with oils from other places. The problem is when the mix-ins are from Nort…

> The problem is when the mix-ins are from North Africa, e.g. from Morocco, which are considered of inferior quality Tunisian here. I'm curious: why is North African olive oil considered inferior?

I don't know. Probably traditional reasons. For example, French wine is considered superior, but I find Greek and Italian wines at least as good (although I haven't really tried all that many of any type).

I don't have a good source for this, but the way I always knew it is that, when it comes to olive oil, Spanish is considered best, followed by Greek, followed by Italian, then everyone else's comes next.

I am Greek, so of course I believe this is wildly inaccurate. Also, the bit about wines. Ours are obviously better.

Bottom line: probably not for any good reason.

Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#114

Post by Angostura »

buboard wrote: post #101
chicob wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really like Hacker News, and I usually read my tech-related news here first. Farming is kind of the family business, and I love it. I am also a physicist by training, and thus my interest in technology in general. Agriculture is becoming increasingly technological, and everything from farming gadgets to John Deere tractors hacking has come up many times. There are even some Plasma Physics applications to agricultur…

> agriculture is becoming increasingly technological depends, the european CAP has subsidized old-style agriculture which has left many regions way behind, and the regulatory frameworkd is so tight that, despite the fact that many countries are producing a lot of research (on GMOs for example), it's not likely to ever be used. I wonder how big is technology adoption in Portugal

So far behind that there is still a local economy based around farm work and hedgerows for wildlife.

Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#115

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

dragonwriter wrote: post #87
YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is olive oil- it's just not extra virgin olive oil, produced by olive flesh (i.e. not the seeds) and only by mechanical extraction (i.e. no heat or chemical processing). The fraud is in the fact that it is advertised as extra virgin, the highest recognised quality, when it's not. Also, it is Italian, only not purely so. It is often mixed in with oils from other places. The problem is when the mix-ins are from Nort…

> It is olive oil Some of it is, some of it isn't; as the article notes, while some of the fraud is lower-grade olive oil, some of it is non-olive seed oils with additives to help it pass for olive oil. > The problem is when the mix-ins are from North Africa, e.g. from Morocco, which are considered of inferior quality No, the problem is that the mixins are lower-grade oil (not extra-virgin). While, yes, this oil ofte…

You're right that non-olive oils are also mixed in, sometimes.

I'm pretty sure the provenance is a problem. I don't remember where that certitude comes from. I can try looking it up if you insist - but actually I'd rather I didn't, I'm a little on the busy side right now :0

Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#116

Post by scalio »

Retric wrote: post #111
scalio wrote: post #110

I recently read Biodiversos by Stefano Mancuso and Carlo Petrini, the founder of the slow food movement. It's basically a discussion between the two where they lay out the big problems with our production and consumption of food. For instance, concentrating on making single kinds as productive as possible instead of cultivating variety is extremely dangerous, as shown by this event. The great Irish famine is maybe th…

I don’t know about dangerous. We have a wide range of crops and the loss of a single one is only ever a regional problem. The loss of any one crop be that something minor like strawberries or major like corn is just not that big a deal globally. Now locally yea it can be a huge issue, but the tradeoff of lower productivity every year vs the low odds in any one year of a problem make this fairly complex balancing act.

The problem is that the same crops are grown globally, so once a disease grabs hold, it can spread very quickly, eradicating yields globally.

Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#117

Post by sizzle »

chicob wrote: post #23

I'm an olive and almond producer in Portugal. In preparation for this very serious issue, since that the only thing I can do is to minimize the risk of infection, I tell all personnel to spray bleach on trimming scissors for each tree, the case of high density orchards, and for every 10-15 trees (or each row) in super high density orchards. I also try to monitor for infection vectors like Cicadellidae, and for possib…

Are there any sensors you can use to monitor health of trees programmatically?

Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#118

Post by sizzle »

chicob wrote: post #23

I'm an olive and almond producer in Portugal. In preparation for this very serious issue, since that the only thing I can do is to minimize the risk of infection, I tell all personnel to spray bleach on trimming scissors for each tree, the case of high density orchards, and for every 10-15 trees (or each row) in super high density orchards. I also try to monitor for infection vectors like Cicadellidae, and for possib…

Are there any sensors you can use to monitor health of trees programmatically?

"These plant defenses do not seem to hinder the movement of X. fastidiosa. Occlusion of vascular tissue, while a normal plant response to infection, makes symptoms significantly worse: as the bacteria itself also reduces vascular function, a 90% reduction of vascular hydraulic function was seen in susceptible Vitis vinifera."

Some type of low energy Bluetooth moisture sensors or a sensor you can stick in the tree itself to monitor reduction in "vascular hydraulic function? of it's xylem tissue?

Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#119

Post by toyg »

vanderZwan wrote: post #75
airstrike wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You might raise your eyebrows at the conclusion that Australian and California extra virgin olive oils are purer than most Italian olive oils, since the research was partially funded by the California Olive Ranch and the California Olive Oil Council and has ties with the Australian Olive Association"

Well, most Italian olive oils sold in California . I think that makes it a lot less surprising. The regulations of the oil fraud police of Italy only apply to Italy, after all.

Also of note that Italian companies tend to sell their best food at home, where competition is fiercer and taste is more discerning. The exported stuff is traditionally weaker, because foreign markets are less picky.

Re: Italy’s olive crisis intensifies as deadly tree disease spreads

#120

Post by usrusr »

Arnt wrote: post #59
amelius wrote: post #56

Q: are olive trees a monoculture like bananas?

That word does not mean what you think it does ;) No, they're not. They can be grown in a monoculture (a large area occupied by the same plant), but they're not clones like bananas. They are, however, slow. What you plant today doesn't give you olives any time soon.

> They are, however, slow. What you plant today doesn't give you olives any time soon.

That's why news like this terrify me so much. Even deadly human diseases seem depressingly harmless by comparison, given the relative ease with which we can be replaced, relative to a very old tree. Thinking of humans as replaceable feels awful.

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