Antonino Filippo Lonobile
Deputy Director of Olive Tree Pruning School Giorgio Pannelli
Based on the facts in question, the numerous existing bibliographic sources, the numerous articles and books published in the last 100 years, we could define olive tree pruning as a dead science.
A dead science precisely because, from the definition of the head of the inspectorate of the province of Agriculture (1), was defined already in 1937 “the execution of one of the most complex and difficult cultural operations” for which practice years of observations related to results were needed “indisputably tangible”, or studies and operations “inspired by biological phenomena rather than traditional geometric criteria”. Today this definition is still very valid despite all the steps forward. Today they want to mechanize all the intervention phases making the operators slaves executors of a technology of which they do not understand how it works and much less they perceive its real purposes until too late.
The reader who today reads a definition from 1937 will think that these arguments are old. Far from it! Today the state of abandonment is so high in Italy that the pseudo-olive grower still plays down both for pruning and for harvesting; precisely because there is a lack of truly specialized manpower. I will not open the chapter here because, wherever I go around Italy humbly asking to be explained what the traditional pruning of the olive tree is (therefore that of the "elders who taught us"), I go back home 99% without having a rational definition of it. Personally The concepts of the elders are very valid so much so that I made it a rule only if they have scientific basis; that is, if you explain to me why a certain phenomenon occurs and this can help me in managing the plants.
In another pamphlet dating back to 1929 that I found in the library (2), dated 1929 and edited by the then Dr. Mario Marinucci (3), we read warnings towards the olive growers and pruners of that time. Unfortunately these warnings are still valid today. “insults” were directed to those who shaved the foliage of the olive tree. The same definition of Roventini can be found by Marinucci himself, defined pruning in the garçonne style, olive trees similar to modern young ladies emerging from the hands of Figaro (4). A fitting warning, but how many understood it? How many read or listened to these words? (5)
Today more than ever the tendency to return to the fold with the cutting techniques that comfort us is amplified by the fact that science, rather than following the various “desired” of the plant follows the wishes of the machine: numerous horsepower, GPS included, cabin air conditioning, rotary saws hanging from tractors see helicopters (6). We have reached the point of building war machines against the plant world. I am not saying that mechanization and technology should not be taken into consideration, quite the opposite! Science, technology and technological machines must be at the service of man who must use his knowledge to interact humbly with plants following their needs and never trying to reduce them to obedient slaves (i.e. giving them a debilitating shape) with useless repeated torture (large cuts), and then expect many fruits and a long life.
So, how can we not force a plant (in this case we are talking about an olive tree) to obey us? a plant in which interventions have always been wrong for years, random, in which operators uncultured in the matter have always leaned in favor of personal geometries and not physiology? The concept is not that difficult if you know the olive tree. There are some rules that we cannot escape if we want to start doing well. Follow me.
1. Space and light
If the olive tree does not have the space necessary to conquer the world around it, in relation to nutrition, water and age, problems will arise already after the seventh/tenth year of age. The olive tree, an evergreen species, will go looking for the light above and the years of "induced chronic pain" will begin for it. The shavers (7) will start sharpening the blades of their motor razors. Instead… To get off to a good start, distance and rich soil are needed.
2. Acqua
Too much water is the enemy of the olive tree. The right amount of water is a friend to the olive grower who wants his friend the olive tree to produce fruit. Irrigation should be done according to the water balance approach. The best water is the one that comes from the sky.
3. Fear of cutting
Fear of cutting is a good thing, for those who have it, because it is a sign of careful and respectful attitude. Because it is a sign of a person who does not know the parts to remove. Because rather than cutting or giving cutting to someone who is not competent, it is better to leave the plant alone. The conclusion is: “Better not to cut if you don't know what to cut”.
4. The courage to cut
The bravest, in the collective imagination, are the heroes who throw themselves into the fray and try their luck, those willing to make the greatest sacrifice. In olive growing, this uselessly heroic courage has always been forgiven by the olive tree, which is reborn, even after severe, absurd, incoherent cuts made by heroes, but heroes on the olive trees of others. We can conclude that The true hero in olive growing is the one who believes in the olive tree to get its fruits, not the one who cuts and experiments blindly, I repeat, believing himself to be an artist on other people's trees.
5. When to cut?
Before cutting you have to "learn" (so study), then you have to "comprehend" (second phase of the study in which phenomena are observed in a scientific way) and then, only then, "Act". The conclusion is learn, understand, act. I only cut if I can explain why I am making that particular cut.
6. How much to cut?
We do not cut a little or a lot based on our fears or our courage (or our unconsciousness). If you know the olive tree you know that even after a frost it starts again from the pedal. After the removal of an entire tree it is reborn luxuriant. Therefore in the olive tree the calculation of the percentage of foliage to be removed is worthless if a severe reform is to be done. The reform is to find the first starting point to adapt the plant to the project that we have understood and that we must always keep in mind. If to find this starting point we have to remove a little we will cut a little or nothing; if instead this starting point requires the total removal of a branch (whether due to drying out, old age, breakage or, almost always, due to illogical criteria of wood management by the self-styled expert wood rapists) the cut will have to be severe. The conclusion is following points 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. and 6. I make the cuts that are needed, without ifs or buts (8).
7. Why prune?
Pruning means managing a plant correctly, facilitating its growth, not inflicting major damage on it. Pruning means inviting it (9) to produce, keep it healthy. You don't intervene on a plant to shape it to your liking or because the owner likes it in one way or another (the Italian garden is "another sport", I personally don't like it), or worse, for fear of receiving insults or unfounded criticism. The conclusion that comes from this is: the olive tree together with us wants fruit and beauty. Once we have obtained both of the criticisms of the rest of the world around us, who cares!
8. Beauty
What is beauty? In nature it is a simple thing but it is governed by cruel laws. Natural beauty in nature is called freedom. Freedom however has severe survival constraints, not being cared for by man, the risks of death in nature are high, only the strongest survive. (10). In nature there are production resets in certain periods, probability of disease, in short, natural risks. In olive growing freedom does not exist or exists up to a certain point, within certain limits precisely. Olive tree and man are both free up to a certain point. One because in cultivation, therefore domestic situation (therefore breeding), the other because he must take care of the olive tree (therefore he must invest his time and money in the care of the olive tree). Beauty in olive growing is having healthy trees, full of leaves, no superfluous wood, lush, dominating tops (11) and many fruits that are easy to harvest. It is called an income-generating olive grove.
9. Tempo
The time factor cannot be ignored in olive growing (it is valid in agriculture). The olive tree answers us once a year. Often to have an answer we must have the patience to wait 3 to 5 years. I wonder who today has the patience to wait five years? The good olive grower must have great patience and respect the times of the olive tree. Those who do not possess these two qualities should change profession..
10. Execution speed
Once we have understood the previous points, we will understand that to make an income we will have to do the required operations quickly. The interventions to be done must be essential, fast, precise and from the ground. It is necessary to practice pruning. The secret of the good pruner (after having observed the nine points above) is: prune, prune, prune….
Paraphrasing one of my deceased Masters (always the good prof. Mario Marinucci), yes! you can have deceased masters… from this came out intentionally ten commandments to use in olive growing. Marinucci wrote: “Olive growers, watch them if you want to be absolved… from the olive tree!”
Pruning will not solve all the problems of an unproductive olive grove, but it will certainly be possible to have healthier plants. Soil management and its health today have an importance that in the past was underestimated, reducing it to a mere cultivation support to be filled with abundant chemical elements (a bit like coal in the furnace of a locomotive). Many things have changed since the past and the primary need that the modern olive grower must impose on himself is that of know and knowledge.
Only through the crop you do what's right while without culture you only do what is easy. The science of the early 900s certainly did not have the technology of today, at that time we were unaware of an enormous amount of data that we know well today. The discovery of DNA in 1953 thanks to the work of R. Franklin, M Wilkins, J. Watson and F. Crick which also revolutionized our world (botanical I mean too) and our way of seeing and acting, of classifying. From the botanical classification of Linnaeus (1764), from the systematic one of De Candolle (1884) to the studies of chromosome morphology conducted by Taylor (1945) to today, times in which the immense work of sequencing the genome of the Leccino variety has been concluded (12), enormous steps forward have been made thanks to knowledge, new methods and increasingly advanced laboratory tools. Today in the most advanced laboratories the olive tree is propagated by DNA, new varieties are patented. In the last few years we have managed to understand a lot about apical dominance in plants and trees while evolutionary biologists have explained many whys of things. Primordial strains of wild olive have been discovered in Europe, physicists in recent years have discovered another of the fundamental pieces of the puzzle on the functioning of photosynthesis.
It remains a fact, however, that the olive tree is there. He looks at us and can do nothing against our momentary brutal strength. He has learned to defend himself from the worst technological attacks by staying alive, rising again and forever. Gabriele D'Annunzio wrote:
The tree is clear and light in the air.
And why the lowest heart its beauty
you touch us, you don't know, we don't know
the olive tree doesn't know.
He was right, we still don't know much about the olive tree even though it touches the depths of our hearts, and not knowing makes this tree species even more fascinating.
Anyone who wants to know more about the Olive Tree, how to take care of it, how to encourage it to grow and produce can reach us. Anyone who will begin their journey with our School (Olive Tree Pruning School “Giorgio Pannelli” srl – social enterprise) will start from basic knowledge that will initially aim to avoid making mistakes. We will then focus on practice in the field, also giving those who continue a job opportunity in a sector where there is a great shortage. The School's project, in addition to spreading the culture of the Olive Tree, is to create cultured professional figures. In recent years, the School has been called by the most important regional, national and recently extra-national bodies to make its scientific-practical method known (13). The School uses ISO 9001:2015 certification for the provision of training and professional development courses. The School teaches how to work on the ground in compliance with the relevant part of law 81/2008 for the protection and safety of the worker. You can follow our steps on the website calendar www.scuolapotaturaolivo.it and read some news every now and then on social media and on theOlive News.
Il first invitation aimed at those who want to become a certified Pruner of the School or start taking care of their own olive trees is to start and finish reading (and understanding) an article in its entirety. The according to is to not go anymore “at random”, "By hearsay", “trying to figure out what to do by looking at photos on social media,” to not go anymore “in the olive grove to make firewood” o “to try to create a support for the ladder with the branches”. The third (invitation), fourth and so on they will come by themselves as we proceed with the scientific-practical method.
Only in this way will the cultural death of the science that contemplates the care of the olive tree be resurrected, like a latent gem tickled by the sun's rays.
Bibliography:
1 cf. Prof. Pancrazio Zappelli, directed the itinerant Chair of Agriculture in Perugia in the 30s. He later became provincial inspector of agriculture directly dependent on the Ministry.
2 The errors of the Lazio olive growing industry, Mario Marinucci, 1929, Rome, “Le massime” printing house
3 Mario Marinucci was at this time the director of the Royal Middle School of Agriculture in Rome. He later became an associate professor at the University of Perugia. He was called in 1936 by the then dean, Prof. Carlo Fuschini, who entrusted him with the teaching of tree cultivation. In 1939 he won the chair, taking over its direction until 1955 and remaining in the university environment until 1960, the year in which the chair was entrusted to Prof. Nestore Jacoboni, teacher of the director of the Olive Tree Pruning School, Giorgio Pannelli, already first researcher and director in charge of the CRA-Oli of Spoleto (PG).
4 Today we would say we came out of the shears of “Edward Scissorhands” (original title, Edward Scissorhands, directed by Tim Burton, 1990)
5 …how many will read this article to the end?
6 it's not a joke! just type "mechanical olive pruning" on youtube to realize the outrages done to the poor olive trees. For the helicopter here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfz1YrpMbBg
7 I deliberately insist on using this term, not mine, but that of Professors Roventini and Marinucci.
8 quotes by Giorgio Pannelli
9 I have been introducing this term (inviting a tree to) for years now during my courses because I think that scientific pruning should not be seen as a cruel operation but rather as a solution to future problems. Invite is, for me, the most appropriate term.
10 see “The selection of the species”, On the origin of the species by means of natural selection, Charles Darwin, 1859
11 see Alfredo Roventini
12 http://olgenome.crea.gov.it/
13 Strongly desired by Giorgio Pannelli and myself.
