Traditional and intensive olive growing have differences in the approaches to defense against the most common pests: the results of the DI. OL. Project

The results of the three-year project "DI.OL." - "Defense from harmful organisms in conventional and intensive olive crops" are here reported. The project had as primary objective, the study of a protection system of the olive crops addressed to olive growers in order to obtain a healthy and high-quality product, both in traditional and in high-density olive groves. Three different work packages have been considered: the first has focused on new methods and strategies to control olive fruit fly, the key pest of the Italian olive groves; the second on arthropods and nematodes to study differences in their infestations between traditional and high-density olive groves; the third work package on monitoring insects as potential vectors of olive plant diseases.