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<pre>Of course Guido is right about the fire risk from mulch compared to a
clean cultivated grove. I think his experience of Spain and Italy is
different from mine. My lasting memory of Spanish groves was trees
perched on mounds about 1 metre high. All the soil around had washed
away. Only the soil held by the olive tree roots remained. The photo in
my olive book of a grove near here as Castello della Sala shows the
deep gutters formed from the run off from an intensively cultivated
grove.

The point is not to be closer to nature or some other romantic view of
farming but practical good sense. The scientific literature is sparse.
Olive research seems to be concentrated on other aspects of olive
growing not landcare so I have had to look elsewhere for the hard
scientific facts to support my ideas. One example I found recently was
research conducted by the Western Australian Department of Agriculture
(quoted in Farming Ahead No 163 page 16) where they found that "when
measured in April, the soil under standing or cut (cereal) stubble
retained up to 85% more moisture after 50 mm of rainfall in February
than in paddocks where the stubble had been burnt after harvest." For
northern reader February is equivalent of August and of course
additional moisture in March, April and may is vital for the production
of oil in the olive (Sept, Oct and Nov in the north). The burning of
the stubble would produce a bare ground effect similar to a cultivated
grove. Whether the rainfall ran off or evaporated is not clear from the
report but is immaterial.

I am researching other work on cultivation and fallows to support this
in my new olive book.

Cheers Brian Chatterton.
</pre>
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