The project has sought a soil management protocol in olive groves that maximizes soil management as a mechanism for adaptation to climate change.

With the project “Adaptation of olive grove cultivation to climate change scenarios (AdaptCOliva)”, a soil management protocol in olive groves has been determined that maximizes the development of the edaphic structure (relative to the soil) as a mechanism for adaptation to climate change. This initiative of the Complutense University of Madrid has had the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition through its call for grants.

The cultivation of olive groves is key for the Spanish agricultural sector from an environmental, social and economic point of view. It is a crop susceptible to the effects of climate change, since this phenomenon can cause damage to the soil that produces a reduction in the number of olive trees. For this reason, the project aims to delve into the functioning of the soil structure as a cornerstone of the physical, chemical and biological properties responsible for the proper functioning of olive farms.

This project has analysed four of the main agricultural production systems for olive groves in Spain: organic, integrated, traditional and abandoned olive groves from the point of view of their adaptation to climate change.

The starting hypothesis indicated that crops whose soils have a higher amount of carbon in the soil will have better water reserves, since the formation of organo-mineral aggregates in the soil as well as nutrients will be favored, and additionally the loss of soil erosion will be avoided. This will be achieved by improving the functionality of the soil microcosm, which can be evidenced by the dynamics of the different biogeochemical cycles.

Numerous soil biology determinations have been carried out to identify which system can be considered the most suitable. To this end, in localities of the Tagus, Guadiana and Guadalquivir basins in 3 different Autonomous Communities, a sampling and intensive analysis was carried out for one year, following a climatic gradient. The results indicate that organic and integrated production systems have a higher carbon content in the soil; greater water retention capacity and greater efficiency of enzymatic activity. Therefore, they are the systems of choice in order to promote the adaptation of olive grove cultivation to climate change.