Talk:Picual

Picual and Super High-Density Planting
I removed the statement that Picual is "Most commonly planted in "super high-density" groves," because it is not true: the SHD system only works for a few cultivars, and Picual is not one of them. The cited reference [ author=Tom Mueller|title=Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil|date=5 December 2011|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-08348-4|pages=146-149 ] does not state that Picual is most often or indeed ever cultivated in this way. "Organic Olive Production Manual," edited by Paul M. Vossen, says that "The super high-density system, however, has worked with only three varieties: Arbequina, Arbosana, and Koroneiki." http://books.google.com/books?id=dlBydJrbI1MC&pg=PA9 This reference http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/42/5/1093.full.pdf&embedded=true says that "The three best known varieties for superhigh-density systems, observed to date are ‘Arbequina’, ‘Arbosana’, and ‘Koroneiki’." This olive orchard supply store http://chartaolives.com/html/shd_varieties.html offers only lines of these three cultivars as SHD varieties. I cannot see any reasonably authoritative source claiming that Picual is even compatible with SHD, let alone that it is most commonly planted in this way. Can editor Steven W. identify any such source? Again, the Mueller book does not make this claim. Mikalra (talk) 21:12, 4 December 2013 (UTC)


 * The book Organic Olive Production Manual focuses mainly on Australian production, and those three cultivars are definitely the only ones grown in SHD farms in the United States. However, Mueller's book clearly talks about the volume of production from Spanish picual cultivation, and mentions super-high density production. How else is such high volume of production for lampante oil accomplished except in high density plantings? Steven Walling &bull; talk   04:38, 15 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Primarily by sheer dint of acreage, plus the relatively high yield of oil from Picual fruit, and the fact that for lower-grade oils you can throw lower-quality fruit into the mill instead of having to throw it away or leave it on the ground. "Spain has 4.7 million acres of olive trees under cultivation, which ranks it as the top producer and exporter of olive oil in the world. By comparison, Italy, the second ranked producer, has 2.0 million acres." http://cesonoma.ucanr.edu/files/27191.pdf

Mikalra (talk) 12:19, 15 December 2013 (UTC)