Cretan Olive Oil Production Hits Historic Low

Crete, Greece’s leading olive oil producer, faces acute drought issues. Initial forecasts for 2024-2025 predicted a 70,000 to 80,000 tons yield, but expectations are dwindling with the continuing dry spell.

A memorandum signed by Giannis Malandrakis (full text in Greek), the President of the Association of Olive Municipalities of Crete (ΣΕΔΗΚ) and the Mayor of Platanias, outlines a pressing challenge for the island’s olive growers and highlights a growing crisis in olive production. The memorandum is directed to Members of Parliament and the European Parliament, the Region and Deputy Regions of Crete, the Hellenic Association of Municipalities, the Regional Development Funds of Crete, and municipalities and olive cooperatives on the island.

Documenting the Damage

In the past couple of years, Crete has endured unprecedented droughts and prolonged heatwaves, particularly impacting olive cultivation’s critical flowering and fruit-setting phases and resulting in substantial declines in crop yields following a historic low of 52,000 tons last year, with this season expected to be even more disappointing.

Earlier in the year, the Association of Olive Municipalities of Crete (ΣΕΔΗΚ) submitted a report to the Ministry detailing damages that affected the flowering and fruit-setting stages. Unfortunately, the adverse weather conditions persisted, causing even further declines in yields and damage to the trees themselves. The summer heat and drought led to a new wave of destruction, affecting olive groves across the island.

Urgent Call to Address the Crisis

The Association’s board convened on November 1, 2024, unanimously deciding to bring attention to this ongoing crisis. The memorandum urges a thorough review of the catastrophic damages to this year’s harvest, presenting these points for consideration:

1. Olive cultivation in Crete, traditionally a cornerstone of the island’s economy and employment, is edging towards irreversible decline due to successive weather extremes.
2. Losses reached 40% compared to the average in last year’s harvest, with similar levels anticipated for the upcoming yield due to sustained drought and heatwaves, leaving local producers in a dire state.
3. Historical damages from previous years were not compensated due to regulations that excluded such incidents. Current dialogues suggest the same outcome for recent autumn damage despite shifts in fruit development stages.

Recommended Changes and Support

The memorandum proposes immediate actions, including:

• Fast-tracking compensation for recent losses due to unusual drought and heat.
• Amending regulatory frameworks to account for damages from unexpected climate conditions that producers cannot mitigate.

These measures seek to rectify inconsistencies, ensuring equitable treatment across different weather-induced damages, such as heat waves and frosts. Amendments also address the flaws in scientific and logical loss evaluation, providing fair compensation to the olive growers who sustain substantial parts of the nation’s agricultural output.