For years there has been debate over whether Mediterranean agriculture can shift from being part of the climate problem to becoming part of the solution. In this work, AgroecoliveLab explores to what extent olive grove management can sway the carbon balance one way or the other.
The study evaluated 16 olive farms in Andalusia by combining measurements of emissions and carbon accumulation in both soil and woody biomass to estimate the annual net carbon footprint at the farm scale.
Key results:
- Farms with higher inputs of organic carbon showed clearly more favorable carbon balances, even behaving as net CO₂ sinks.
- Carbon sequestration in soil and biomass can fully or partially offset the emissions associated with farm management.
- Fuel consumption, nitrogen fertilisation and irrigation remain the main sources of emissions and therefore key points for action.
A central idea: The tree itself has a limited capacity to accumulate carbon; it is soil management that ultimately determines whether an olive grove acts as a sink or not. When poor soil management is combined with high intensities of fertilisation, irrigation and machinery use, the balance clearly shifts toward emissions. Identifying which management decisions truly matter is key to designing realistic, measurable and field-applicable carbon farming strategies.