Olive-Growing in Italy: Economic and Multifunctional Aspects

Olive-growing in Italy represents a particularly qualified and appreciated field in food-processing productions. The relevant interrelations with the history, landscape, environment and culture of our country make olive-growing particularly important not only for the economy of rural areas but also for the positive effects on landscape and surrounding environment. In fact olive-growing is defining itself more and more as a multifunctional enterprise. The presence of olive growers is also emphasized as cultural mediators with consumers for the various functions that can be given to the multifunctional agricultural method. Olive-growing in Italy involves over one million three hundred thousand olive farms, generally of small dimensions, with an annual production ranging over 600 tons. In the majority of southern rural areas olive- growing represents the main source of income and, due to the direct and indirect work connections it generates, that is oil-mills, transformers, bottling in and distributing, can provide a revitalizing opportunity for depressed, marginal areas. This work analyses the economic relevance of oil production in Italy by considering the trend of the national and foreign commercial trade balance. The final part of the paper underlines the environmental role of olive-growing that for its pedologic qualities and characteristics helps environmental protection by reducing the risk of geological instability.