Malaga province begins green olive harvest campaign with better prospects compared to last year

Malaga has begun the olive harvest campaign amid cautious optimism within the agricultural sector. After several years marked by severe drought, this year's production outlook shows a clear path toward recovery in fruit volume, thanks to the water accumulated during the winter and spring.

However, the final outcome of the harvest in the province depends on the weather in the coming weeks, as the recent lack of rainfall and the high temperatures threaten to affect fruit size.

Since official estimates by province are not usually released until the harvest is complete, this assessment is based on sources within the sector, including Dcoop.

Harvesting has already begun for the Aloreña de Málaga variety. The outlook is favourable, with estimates pointing to a good harvest of between 2.5 and three million kilos. The high quality of the fruit and the satisfactory size of the olives in the first plots harvested are also noteworthy.

Meanwhile, the Hojiblanca variety, which is the most widely grown in the province, is bearing an abundant crop on the olive trees.

Harvesting for table olives will begin over the course of next week only in those areas where the quality allows it, as the accumulated heat over the summer and particularly the high temperatures in September have caused the fruit to shrivel significantly in rain-fed areas, such as the Antequera, where supplementary irrigation is not available.

To put the province's potential into context, official estimates for the last season put total table olive production in Malaga at 56,813 tonnes. As the Hojiblanca variety accounts for between 90% and 92% of the province's total volume, this variety's contribution exceeded 51,000 tonnes.

Looking ahead to the new season, the latest forecast by the Interaceituna organisation predicts that national production of Hojiblanca olives will grow by 12.5% compared with the previous year and by 15.6% compared with the average over the last four years.

If Malaga province maintains this state of recovery, it could see an increase of between 10% and 13% compared with last season's figures.

However, the sector warns that these theoretical figures should be treated with the utmost caution. The industry requires a minimum commercial size. If the rain does not reach the plots in time, before the fruit ceases to be suitable for the table, the olives will not reach the required size and a substantial proportion of the harvest will end up in olive oil mills for the extraction of olive oil.

ccording to regional government figures, around 4,000 families across the province of Malaga rely on the green olive harvest for their livelihood. In Alozaina, the traditional olive fair-held alongside the feast of Dulce Nombre de María-serves as the official prelude to the picking season. While early harvesting has already begun elsewhere in the province, local tradition in Alozaina dictates that picking crews only head into the fields on 14 October, two days after the town's festive procession on Monday, 12 October.

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The Aloreña olive grows on an area of 17,800 hectares of protected olive groves, across 19 municipalities in the province of Malaga: Alhaurín de la Torre, Alhaurín el Grande, Almogía, Álora, Alozaina, Ardales, El Burgo, Carratraca, Casarabonela, Cártama, Coín, Guaro, Malaga, Monda, Pizarra, Tolox, Valle de Abdalajís, Ronda and Yunquera.

The harvesting process, known as 'ordeño' (hand milking), is also quite unique. After green harvesting, the olives are placed in specially designed baskets to prevent them from being damaged or spoiled.

The positive outlook for the green olive harvest contrasts with the pessimism of olive farmers in other parts of the province, where the harvest is dedicated to oil production. Associations are already warning of some very difficult months ahead.

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