Why 25 International Olive Oil Specialists Reunited in Cordoba Spain

Beauty, they say starts from the inside. It’s the same for olive trees.

If producers want delicious, tasty olives and olive oil, healthy products that will satisfy their most demanding customers they need to tend to their trees in the best possible way. That’s why the 25 spots open to olive and olive oil professionals attracted experts from all over the globe. They wanted to further their knowledge on olive cultivation in Spain, the world’s leading producer of table olives and olive oil by following a course offered by IFAPA, the Andalusian Institutefor Research and Training in Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and EcologicalProduction ( Instituto de investigación y formación agraría y Pesquera )

The intense four-week advanced course attracted international olive experts from various countries such as Brazil, Columbia, Peru, Uruguay, Italy France, and Spain, all wanting to glean more knowledge on olive cultivation.

International olive and olive oil professionals at IFAPA training session --  December 2018

French olive oil expert and co-author of 7 Wonders of Olive Oil, Cécile Le Galliard met all the requirements stipulated by IFAPA.  Cécile was enthusiastic about the Advanced Course of Specialization in Olive culture she followed.

Here’s what the olive oil consultant said:

“Besides the diverse theoretical and practical course material and the five field visits, the course allowed us to exchange information with professionals with varying job functions within the olive oil industry. Sharing information with 40 different professors was equally motivating – this exchange of experience and knowledge will provide us with a good working base for further development.”

Course Content and Program 

The 150-hour course conducted in Spanish included the following topics:

•         The Olive tree as a plant. Its annual cycle and olive growing in different countries
•         Botany and morphology (Flowering, fruiting, and ripening)
•          Genetic improvement programs and obtaining new varieties
•          Methods of propagation and certification of the plant
•         The culture medium. Climate, ground.
•          Design of the plantation and its execution
•          Techniques and types of pruning.
•          Systems of soil management

The training sessions set up by IFAPA is good news for everyone: beneficial, not only for professionals but also for consumers seeking more information into tractability and questioning the quality of their olive oil products.