The vegetation cover, broadly speaking, is made up of weeds that grow in the olive groves. Weeds are seen subjectively because what for some is a weed, for others it may be a plant of appreciation and interest that helps the farmer’s objective, which is none other than obtaining a good product with maximum profitability. . That is to say, a herb will be good or bad depending on personal, cultural interest and, mainly, the place where said plant is. Therefore, the approach that the farmer has of the vegetal cover varies depending on the agriculture that he practices, so it will be necessary to assess the advantages and disadvantages that the vegetal cover offers in each of the situations in which he wants to apply it.
Around 75% of Spanish agricultural land is at risk of desertification, which is one of the reasons why Vegetation cover (type of soil management) is gaining followers year after year. This soil management technique has many benefits for the soil, but mainly for woody crops such as olive groves. Some of these benefits, which we will see in more detail, are based on helping to control pests, retaining water, especially in hillside areas, and protecting the soil from the abrasive effects of the sun and therefore reducing the desertification.
Before considering installing a green roof, it is extremely important to know the different types that exist in order to make the right choice. Soil management is extremely important today. Poor tillage practices that increase erosion, phytosanitary treatments that kill vegetative areas and uncontrolled fertilization result in desertification and therefore lead to production losses in the first place and generation of water stress in many crops and especially in olive groves. Therefore, It is extremely important to start with the regeneration of the soil with soil conservation management techniques and within these techniques one of them, perhaps the star piece, is the vegetative cover.
Next, we will make a classification of the vegetal covers that we can apply according to their nature and the space-time in which they are administered:
According to its nature:
living deck (the plants that form it are alive)
spontaneous: it is generated naturally. This is the ideal cover.
- Advantages: Low cost since everything is natural. Plants are adapted to the soil. Great diversity of plants that help us clean the soil of possible existing phytosanitary products. They help us control possible pest problems.
- Disadvantages: The vegetation cover competes with the crop since it is highly adapted to the soil. Much more intense driving is needed so that the competition is not great.
sown: of plants of origin of purchased seeds. Herbaceous species (legumes mixed with grasses)
- Advantages: it dries up in spring and thus there is not much competition with the olive grove and therefore handling is simple
- Disadvantages: there is not much biodiversity. Plants are placed that are not 100% adapted to the terrain. Implementation cost and therefore low profitability. We have to take into account the dates of sowing, subscriber, etc. sometimes they coincide with work in the olive grove.
inert cover (the plants or components that form it are no longer alive)
Vegetable remains: pruning remains and leaves.
- Advantages: does not consume nutrients. Protects from the sun and evaporation. Management is not complex. The soil improves a lot and the yield of the farm rises considerably.
- Disadvantages: high implementation cost. Large debris volume is required (100 m3 per hectare to generate good cover). The nutritional value of the soil can decompensate if the remains have a high level of a nutrient, but on the contrary have a low level of another necessary nutrient for the olive grove (carbon and hydrogen, for example).
stones (of non-vegetable mineral origin): it is something natural and therefore it is considered a vegetal cover.
- Advantages: very cool. They do not generate consumption of nutrients or water.
- Disadvantages: any soil preparation operation is complicated as the stone damages the machinery.
According to space-time:
Total (occupies the entire farm). It brings the benefits even under the olive tree. We need tools to control the cover under the olive tree.
- Perennial: It is established from autumn to summer. There is a lot of competition in spring.
- Temporary: growth is halted to gain control. It is created at the beginning of autumn and is removed when we see that there is a lot of consumption of nutrients and water.
Partial (only the center of the street). More interesting in super-intensive crops. There is little competition near the plant. The soil is taken care of in the street of the superintensive.
- Perennial: Same characteristics as for the total vegetation cover.
- Temporary: Same characteristics as for the total vegetation cover.
At this point, it is clear and more than proven that there are many benefits of the vegetal (or herbaceous) cover that the farm’s crops and especially the olive grove take advantage of. With the knowledge available, cultivating the olive grove keeping the soil bare throughout the year, abusing the use of herbicides or tillage, because it is unsustainable, is an outdated olive growing model.
Weeds should already play a fundamental role in olive growing in general, but where they indisputably do so is in Olivares Vivos, which seeks to recover biodiversity and transform it into profitability.
In our area, where the olive grove is not a main crop, the vegetal cover is not traditionally used. We still keep in mind that the best way is to have the olive groves completely clean (for example, we are commenting that it is not the best option) in addition to the fact that it is a fairly flat area and therefore there are no landslide problems caused by the rains.
It is true that soil erosion is beginning to be a problem and therefore considering having a living plant cover is an option to value very positively.
If we have to recommend some type of vegetation cover, in terms of plantations for super-intensive olive groves (where mechanical work cannot be carried out crosswise), we recommend living, spontaneous, partial and temporary cover. For more extensive plantations, which allow work in all directions, the most recommended vegetation cover, perhaps, could be living, spontaneous, total and temporary.
In summary, a live, spontaneous and temporary plant cover is usually the most recommended for the olive grove and, without a doubt, it is the one that is currently giving the best results.
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