Influence of weather conditions on olive (Olea europaea L.) yield and oil quality on the island of Ugljan in organic crop production

Uzgoj maslina i uljarstvo u Republici Hrvatskoj imaju dugu tradiciju i jedna su od najperspektivnijih poljoprivrednih proizvodnji koja u posljednjih desetak godina bilježi povećanje proizvodnih površina i porast proizvodnje. Trend potrošnje maslinovog ulja u Hrvatskoj je u porastu, a tome može dodatno doprinjeti i prijelaz dijela maslinara na ekološki uzgoj maslina čime se tržištu može ponuditi ulje naviše kvalitete. Cilj ovog rada bio je prikazati utjecaj vremenskih prilika na prinos i kvalitetu ulja masline u dvije godine koje su se značajno razlikovale u vremenskim uvjetima. Istraživanje je provedeno na Obiteljskom poljoprivrednom gospodarstvu Marko Kolega, koje je smješteno na otoku Ugljanu u mjestu Kali. Opažanja u uzgoju maslina u 2014. godini, koja je bila nepovoljna za uzgoj maslina zbog prekomjerne vlažnosti u kritičnim fenofazama masline, ukazuju na značajan utjecaj nepovoljnih vremenskih prilika na urod i kvalitetu ulja masline. Urod maslina bio je iznimno nizak, a ulje nezadovoljavajuće kvalitete unatoč primjenjenoj agrotehnici. Druge godine istraživanja (2015.) vremenske prilike bile su povoljne za uzgoj masline te je ostvaren urod od gotovo 2t maslina sa 142 stabla uz iznimnu kvalitetu ulja. Vremenske prilike u ovom istraživanju pokazale su se kao glavni čimbenik koji je utjecao na uspješnost proizvodnje maslina i maslinovog ulja jer su svi primjenjeni agrotehnički zahvati bili uniformni u obje godine.Growing olives and olive oil production in Croatia has a long tradition and represents one of the most promising agricultural production, with tendency in increasing production and production areas in the last ten years. The trend of consumption of olive oil in Croatia is possitive as does the transition of many farmers on organic production of olives farming. Thus production offers the highest quality olive oil on the market. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of weather conditions on olive yield and quality of olive oil in two years which differ in weather conditions. The study was conducted on family farm Marko Kolega, which is located on Ugljan island in Kali. The year 2014. was unfavorable for olive farming looking at weather conditions due to excessive moisture in the critical stages of olive trees growth. The conducted observations suggest a significant impact of weather conditions on the yield and olive oil quality. Olive yield was extremely low, and the oil was out of prescribed standard despite of optimal applied agrotechnique. In the second year of research (2015) the weather conditions were favorable for the cultivation of olive trees. Achieved yield was nearly 2t obtained from 142 olive trees with exceptional oil quality. The weather in this study proved to be a major factor that contributed to the success of the production of olives and olive oil, because all applied agricultural practices were uniform in both years