Division 1 Olive cultivation and harvesting

In Chalkidiki, virtually all the olive groves are planted using a type of planting midway between traditional and modern, with distances between the trees of 6 × 6,5, 6,5 × 6,5 and 6 × 7 m. Most producers, through their organisations, apply a documented integrated crop management system. In order for the producers to deal with the phenomenon of biennial bearing, but also in order to obtain large and high-quality fruit, winter and summer pruning and debudding are systematically carried out.

The yields, on average, fluctuate around 9 000 kg/ha per annum.

Harvesting takes place during the period from 15 September to 10-15 October each year, when the fruit is at the appropriate stage of ripening and has the desired colour, according to the monitoring of ripening applied by the producers and their organisations. Using ladders, the producers pick the olives by hand and place them in plastic crates, in which they also transport the product to the processing units. The fruit must be clear of leaves, wood and any other foreign matter and should have a uniform green/greenish-yellow colour, should not have any bruises, scratches, damage from insects and diseases or been eaten by birds, etc. In the processing units the olives are weighed and accepted over with a quality and quantity acceptance form.