Boosting olive yields with climate-smart and evidence-based practices

“Our  olive fruits look healthier compared to other fields which were infested with pests, and our production has improved by at least three times in comparison to previous seasons,” expressed Ali Ali, reflecting on the climate-smart agriculture practices that have helped him and other farmers to achieve better olive production after participating for almost a year in the FAO Farmer Field School (FFS) for olive production in Tal Elsafa, Homs governorate.

These olive farmers had been struggling with challenges caused by irregular rainfall and fluctuating temperatures. The olive trees also suffered from a phenomenon known as alternate bearing, where the trees would bear high yield one year and poor or no yield the next.

Moreover, the unusual climatic conditions made the olive crop susceptible to an additional threat: “The fluctuating temperatures made the olives vulnerable to an early infestation of olive fruit flies that affect the yield and quality of olive oil,” says Hasan Kanaan, FFS facilitator in Tal Elsafa.

Hasan facilitated a group of 25 famers (22 male and 3 female) who practiced together and applied a simple solution to counter this early threat by using an organic pest control method: “The anticipation and early detection of olive fruit fly infestation encouraged us at the FFS to make insect sticky traps using innovative and locally available materials like plastic bottles and light bulb sockets, which were affordable, accessible, and quite effective for farmers” he adds.

While some farmers hesitated to apply these new, cheaper and environmentally friendly practices, preferring chemical pesticides, those who embraced the techniques promoted by the FFS achieved remarkable success with zero cost.

A change in production culture

“We used to consider olive trees as forest trees that did not need much care. Now after using enough organic fertilization, integrated pest management (IPM), as well as proper and timely pruning, we could notice the improvement in the trees’ condition as soon as we walked into the field,” said Ali. Ali adds that, like all other olive farmers, this crop is crucial for his livelihood: “I rely on my olive trees for a yearly income; olive products are very popular and valuable.”

Loqman Owainat, another FFS participant, describes how the FFS sessions secured his olive production: “I value my olive trees. The techniques I learned, like using pheromone traps, painting trunks with lime for protection, and applying organic fertilizer, have made a significant difference to the trees’ growth and productivity.”

The facilitator, Hasan, estimates that some farmers in his FFS have already seen improved fruit bearing and can expect a better yield next year, with a significant decrease in alternate bearing of their trees. By integrating climate-smart and evidence-based methods, as well as using cheaper organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers, most of the olive farmers have also helped cut down on energy use and reduce carbon emissions, supporting efforts to combat climate change.

 FAO and FCDO’s collaboration towards better production

FAO’s farmer field school in Tal Elsafa, implemented under the Building Local Resilience in Syria (BLRS) project with funding from UK Aid, is one of 50 FFS that are focused on fruit trees, benefiting more than 1 100 farmers across Aleppo, Deir-ez-Zor, Hama, Homs, and Rural Damascus governorates.

The success in Tal Elsafa stands as a testament to the resilience and innovation of Syrian farmers in the face of environmental and economic challenges, and the success of the FFS programme in empowering farmers and enhancing agricultural productivity and food and nutrition security in the region.

In essence, the farmer field school programme is a platform where farmers can gather frequently and exchange information through experimentation and guided discussions on their agricultural practices. FAO and FCDO have implemented 390 FFS in total, empowering more than 9 000 farming households. These FFS, which cover a variety of value chains in crop and animal production, have been a powerful tool for boosting production, elevating the quality of agricultural work, improving resilience, and promoting uptake of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and good agricultural practices (GAP).