Abstract
This modeling study evaluates the combined effects of organic fertilization and irrigation regimes on olive productivity and environmental sustainability in southern Italy. Field experiments were conducted in an organic olive grove (cv. Leccino) under Mediterranean conditions, testing four organic fertilization treatments—biochar (BCH), compost (CMP), dried blood (DB), and a commercial organic fertilizer (CTR)—and two irrigation strategies. The CropWat model was employed to simulate additional irrigation scenarios, ranging from full irrigation (Full; 100% ETc) to rainfed conditions. Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments, with yields of 3191 kg ha−1 (CMP), 2590 kg ha−1 (DB), and 2110 kg ha−1 (CTR). Deficit irrigation strategies, such as ceasing irrigation during the pit-hardening stage (Red_Farm; 1160 m3 ha−1), reduced water use by 67% compared to Full (3600 m3 ha−1) while maintaining satisfactory yields (3070 kg ha−1 vs. 2035 kg ha−1 on average across all fertilization treatments). Water footprint (WFP) analysis revealed that BCH consistently achieved the lowest WFP values (e.g., 1220 m3 t−1 under Full and 687 m3 t−1 under rainfed conditions), outperforming CTR (1605 m3 t−1), CMP (1645 m3 t−1), and DB (1846 m3 t−1) under full irrigation and 810 m3 t−1, 1219 m3 t−1, and 1147 m3 t−1 with no irrigation water supply. Incremental water productivity (IRincr) and marginal water footprint efficiency (WFPincr) further demonstrated that BCH optimized both productivity and environmental sustainability, with IRincr values of 0.55 kg m−3 and WFPincr values of 1.58 m3 kg−1 (averaged for all water regimes), better than CTR (0.40 kg m−3 and 2.14 m3 kg−1), CMP (0.46 kg m−3 and 1.93 m3 kg−1), and DB (0.38 kg m−3 and 2.32 m3 kg−1). An aggregated scoring system, based on standardized and normalized data, ranked BCH under the Red_Farm irrigation strategy as the most effective management approach, achieving the highest overall score compared to the other fertilizer treatments in combination with the different irrigation strategies, thereby balancing high yields with significant water savings.
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Claims 13
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar-treated olive groves gave the highest yields, up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation, outperforming other treatments
- Taxon
- olive
Olea europaeae1 - Treatment
- biochar (BCH)e2
- Outcome
- yieldse1
- Direction
- higheste1
- Value
- 3756 kg ha−1e1
- Qualifier
- under full irrigatione1
- Comparator
- other treatmentse1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e2“testing four organic fertilization treatments—biochar (BCH), compost (CMP), dried blood (DB), and a commercial organic fertilizer (CTR)”
Claim · model-written summary
Compost-treated olive groves yielded 3191 kg ha−1
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae1
- Treatment
- compost (CMP)e3
- Outcome
- yieldse2
- Value
- 3191 kg ha−1e2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e2“with yields of 3191 kg ha−1 (CMP), 2590 kg ha−1 (DB), and 2110 kg ha−1 (CTR)”
e3“testing four organic fertilization treatments—biochar (BCH), compost (CMP), dried blood (DB), and a commercial organic fertilizer (CTR)”
Claim · model-written summary
Dried-blood-treated olive groves yielded 2590 kg ha−1
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae1
- Treatment
- dried blood (DB)e3
- Outcome
- yieldse2
- Value
- 2590 kg ha−1e2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e2“with yields of 3191 kg ha−1 (CMP), 2590 kg ha−1 (DB), and 2110 kg ha−1 (CTR)”
e3“testing four organic fertilization treatments—biochar (BCH), compost (CMP), dried blood (DB), and a commercial organic fertilizer (CTR)”
Claim · model-written summary
Olive groves treated with the commercial organic fertilizer yielded 2110 kg ha−1
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae1
- Treatment
- a commercial organic fertilizer (CTR)e3
- Outcome
- yieldse2
- Value
- 2110 kg ha−1e2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e2“with yields of 3191 kg ha−1 (CMP), 2590 kg ha−1 (DB), and 2110 kg ha−1 (CTR)”
e3“testing four organic fertilization treatments—biochar (BCH), compost (CMP), dried blood (DB), and a commercial organic fertilizer (CTR)”
Claim · model-written summary
Ceasing irrigation during the pit-hardening stage reduced water use by 67% compared with full irrigation
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae1
- Organ / stage
- pit-hardening stagee2
- Treatment
- ceasing irrigation during the pit-hardening stagee2
- Outcome
- water usee2
- Direction
- reducede2
- Value
- 67%e2
- Qualifier
- Red_Farm; 1160 m3 ha−1e2
- Comparator
- Fulle2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e2“Deficit irrigation strategies, such as ceasing irrigation during the pit-hardening stage (Red_Farm; 1160 m3 ha−1), reduced water use by 67% compared to Full (3600 m3 ha−1)”
Claim · model-written summary
Deficit irrigation maintained satisfactory olive yields, reported as 3070 kg ha−1 vs. 2035 kg ha−1 on average across fertilization treatments
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae1
- Treatment
- Deficit irrigation strategiese2
- Outcome
- yieldse3
- Direction
- maintaininge3
- Value
- 3070 kg ha−1 vs. 2035 kg ha−1e3
- Comparator
- Fulle2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e2“Deficit irrigation strategies, such as ceasing irrigation during the pit-hardening stage (Red_Farm; 1160 m3 ha−1), reduced water use by 67% compared to Full (3600 m3 ha−1)”
e3“while maintaining satisfactory yields (3070 kg ha−1 vs. 2035 kg ha−1 on average across all fertilization treatments)”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar gave the lowest water footprint of 1220 m3 t−1 under full irrigation
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae1
- Treatment
- BCHe2
- Outcome
- WFP valuese2
- Direction
- loweste2
- Value
- 1220 m3 t−1e2
- Qualifier
- under Fulle2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e2“BCH consistently achieved the lowest WFP values (e.g., 1220 m3 t−1 under Full and 687 m3 t−1 under rainfed conditions)”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar gave the lowest water footprint of 687 m3 t−1 under rainfed conditions
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae1
- Treatment
- BCHe2
- Outcome
- WFP valuese2
- Direction
- loweste2
- Value
- 687 m3 t−1e2
- Qualifier
- under rainfed conditionse2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e2“BCH consistently achieved the lowest WFP values (e.g., 1220 m3 t−1 under Full and 687 m3 t−1 under rainfed conditions)”
Claim · model-written summary
Water footprints of 810, 1219 and 1147 m3 t−1 were obtained with no irrigation water supply
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae1
- Outcome
- WFP valuese2
- Value
- 810 m3 t−1, 1219 m3 t−1, and 1147 m3 t−1e3
- Qualifier
- with no irrigation water supplye3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e2“BCH consistently achieved the lowest WFP values (e.g., 1220 m3 t−1 under Full and 687 m3 t−1 under rainfed conditions)”
e3“810 m3 t−1, 1219 m3 t−1, and 1147 m3 t−1 with no irrigation water supply”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar gave an incremental water productivity (IRincr) of 0.55 kg m−3, better than CTR at 0.40 kg m−3
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae3
- Treatment
- BCHe2
- Outcome
- IRincre1
- Direction
- bettere1
- Value
- 0.55 kg m−3e1
- Qualifier
- 0.40 kg m−3e1
- Comparator
- CTRe1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“with IRincr values of 0.55 kg m−3 and WFPincr values of 1.58 m3 kg−1 (averaged for all water regimes), better than CTR (0.40 kg m−3 and 2.14 m3 kg−1)”
e2“BCH optimized both productivity and environmental sustainability”
e3“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar gave an incremental water footprint efficiency (WFPincr) of 1.58 m3 kg−1, better than CTR at 2.14 m3 kg−1
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae3
- Treatment
- BCHe2
- Outcome
- WFPincre1
- Direction
- bettere1
- Value
- 1.58 m3 kg−1e1
- Qualifier
- 2.14 m3 kg−1e1
- Comparator
- CTRe1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“with IRincr values of 0.55 kg m−3 and WFPincr values of 1.58 m3 kg−1 (averaged for all water regimes), better than CTR (0.40 kg m−3 and 2.14 m3 kg−1)”
e2“BCH optimized both productivity and environmental sustainability”
e3“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar under the Red_Farm irrigation strategy achieved the highest overall score among the fertilizer and irrigation combinations
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae2
- Treatment
- BCH under the Red_Farm irrigation strategye3
- Outcome
- overall scoree1
- Direction
- higheste1
- Comparator
- the other fertilizer treatmentse1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“achieving the highest overall score compared to the other fertilizer treatments”
e2“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
e3“ranked BCH under the Red_Farm irrigation strategy as the most effective management approach”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors conclude that biochar under the Red_Farm strategy balances high yields with significant water savings
- Taxon
- oliveOlea europaeae2
- Outcome
- balancing high yields with significant water savingse1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“thereby balancing high yields with significant water savings”
e2“Results showed that biochar-treated olive groves achieved the highest yields (up to 3756 kg ha−1 under full irrigation), outperforming other treatments”
The same questions in other papers
irrigation · yield · Olea europaea (common olive)Results differ
25 papers in the same direction as this paper · 24 in the opposite direction · 3 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
- negative
- no effect
49 papers more in this group
See all 53 papers →irrigation · physiology: water · Olea europaea (common olive)Positive and negative results
8 papers in the same direction as this paper · 8 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- negative
13 papers more in this group
See all 17 papers →biochar · yield · Olea europaea (common olive)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.