On the occasion of the Oleotec-2019 fair that is held in Zaragoza from February 26 to March 1, we are going to study the vine and the olive grove in Aragon .
The olive grove in Aragon is centenary, with 27 municipalities that offer routes to visit them. The province with the most hectares of production between dry land and irrigated land is Teruel, although the largest olive farm is in Zaragoza, in Campo de Belchite.
Areas and varieties of the olive grove in Aragon
The olive grove in Aragon is in its three provinces, but it is Lower Aragon that stands out in terms of number of hectares and in production, especially oil from the mill. It is important to note that there are 104 oil mills that last year have achieved a virgin oil production of 12,000 tons according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture.
- Somontano in Huesca : «Arbequina», Alqueracerana varieties from the Alquezar area, Verdeña and other varieties.
- Bajo Aragón in Teruel and Zaragoza : the variety is «Empeltre» native to this area. Centennial olive trees in limestone and dry lands. The denomination of origin « Oil from Lower Aragon » guarantees its quality. We also find the Arbequina variety.
- Belchite in Zaragoza : «Empeltre» variety with production of extra virgin olive oil. It has tourist route to see many ancient olive trees.
- Sierra del Moncayo in Zaragoza : with Arbequina, Verdial, Empeltre, Negral and Royal varieties. With the denomination of origin "Sierra del Moncayo".
The most productive areas of the olive grove in Aragon are:
Vineyard areas and designations of origin
Aragon is a land of vineyards with more than 36,000 hectares of cultivation and its four denominations of origin:
- Cariñena : in the Ebro valley and with 16,000 hectares. The most common variety is the « Red Garnacha » for reds with about 15,000 hectares and the « Viura » for whites. Also the Cabernet Sauvignon, rich in tannins and highly appreciated for reds
- Calatayud : in the southwestern part of Zaragoza with about 5,400 hectares where the Tempranillo variety stands out.
- Somontano : located in Huesca with the red grape variety Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Campo de Borja : northwest of Zaragoza with 7,400 hectares, highlighting the Tempranillo variety.
The varieties of Macabeo, Garnacha blanca and Chardonnay are also important for white grapes.
Oleotec 2019 objectives
Oleotec 2019 in Zaragoza is a must for professionals in the wine and oil sector, agents of the olive and vine market and professionals who present the latest developments in technology and logistics.
Different workshops are offered:
- How to deal with climate change.
- New materials to preserve and bottle wine.
- Applications of drones to agriculture.
- Crop water stress.
- On-line commerce.
Plantae will be present at this fair, attracting new customers and making the vine and olive grove sector in Aragon known the humidity sensors for irrigation control.
In addition to the olive grove in Aragon there are other crops with precision irrigation
Plantae technology has already reached this Community. We have installed sensors to olive, alfalfa and almond trees .
In alfalfa, sprinkler irrigation controlled by humidity sensors is very profitable in the short term, because it saves much more water than with traditional edge irrigation. In addition, the amount of humidity it has at all times is controlled and production increases. Alfalfa endures drought but its production decreases considerably.
In almond trees irrigation is very important in the growing season of the almond.
All irrigated crops increase their production with controlled irrigation. But the great advantage is the intelligent saving of water provided by the sensors, because we only use what the crop really needs.
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