“Eco-scheme 2 is the antithesis of environmental sustainability.” The prof. Salvatore Camposeo, professor of general arboriculture and tree cultivation at the Aldo Moro University of Bari (in the picture), rejects in no uncertain terms the provisions relating to the environmental regime for the greening of tree crops, including olive groves, highlighting how it has evidently been overlooked by Brussels that 99% of this type of tree is now present in hot-arid areas. The opportunity was provided by the round table on the theme "Climate change: impact on income and yields of olive growing" at the Agrilevante fair in Bari.
As it is known the eco-scheme 2 - which is on a voluntary basis e guarantees a contribution additional to the olive grower equal to 120 euros per hectare – aims to ensure the presence of spontaneous or sown herbaceous plant cover in the inter-row or, for non-row crops, outside the vertical projection of the foliage.
“Calendar grassing makes no sense. In agriculture the calendar is only used to remember birthdays and name days as well as tax deadlines. Arguing that the land must be left grassed from 15 September to 15 May is absurd.. This year, in mid-September, temperatures were still high and the weeds were an enemy for the olive trees that had to be eliminated. And what about May 15th when in Corato or Ruvo di Puglia we have the olives already planted and the grassing certainly wasn't useful for the plant?”
The teacher also took into consideration the period from May 16th to September 14th, when eco-scheme 2 has the ban on working the soil. “Already talking about plowing in olive groves is embarrassing, given that in these lands you only do it with a cutter or a harrow. But tillage is not always an enemy of the soil, just as grassing is not always the best support! Processing, even in the period examined, on some soils becomes useful for the plant. We must get the clock out of our heads, understand that weeds must be eliminated at certain times and left at other times follow the agronomic advice that arises from the age of the tree, the type of soil and the climatic course".
