Olive culture is one of the oldest agricultural and most drought resistant tree crops. More than two thousand recorded cultivars, clones or sub-clones are still in use.

The productivity of the olive tree in traditional cultivation systems is relatively low. Production potential of many olive varieties for table olives could be 4-5 times higher when grown under intensive, irrigated modern growing conditions (Hartman, 1983).

In many olive-growing regions, water availability might be a limiting growing factor, therefore, in order to use water effectively, it needs to be applied properly.

In order to understand the effect of irrigation and water status on olive growth and development, one should understand the pattern of olive tree growing. The following table describes two years of olive tree organ development (Goldhamer et al.).

Yield – affected by irrigation
Effect of irrigation on canopy-root ratio
Strategy of olive irrigation
Evaluation of yield production
Crop coefficient and water stress
Water conservation by pruning
Tree water status and plant parameters monitoring
Excess water