The ARSIAL technicians were invited by the Municipality of Amaseno to participate in the conference entitled: Olive varieties in Lazioto contribute to the in-depth analysis of issues related to biodiversity of agricultural interest.
The conference provided the opportunity to generally illustrate the functioning of the mechanisms of Regional Law no. 15 of 1 March 2000 on the protection and valorisation of indigenous genetic resources of agricultural interest in Lazio and allowed us to outline an overall picture of the richness of regional olive biodiversity. At the same time, the descriptive sheet of theLorenziana olive treea local variety recently registered in the Regional Voluntary Registry, at high risk of genetic erosion and originally from the municipality of Amaseno.
In over twenty years of application of Regional Law 15/2000, ARSIAL has surveyed, characterized and placed 20 local varieties of olive trees under protection and another 15 are in the characterization phase, an important number of resources that constitute one of the olive varietal heritages among the most studied at a national level. The protected varieties are also placed in the collection at theARSIAL Experimental Demonstration Company in Montopoli di Sabina (RE).
These local varieties of olive trees have been traced in every province of Lazio, especially in the hilly and foothill areas, among which those close to the Lucretili Mountains, the Aurunci Mountains and the Ausoni Mountains stand out for their varietal richness. These are rustic varieties, the expression of a strong adaptation to the pedoclimatic conditions of the different territorial contexts of Lazio, and which have been maintained, although in sometimes very small numbers of specimens, due to their characteristics as pollinators, resistance to cold or pathogens or for the quality of the oil.
The study and research on local olive varieties are activities that aim not only at conservation but also at the reactivation of olive-growing chains that guarantee the conservation of extraordinary landscapes and the production of oils representative of the individual territories. Furthermore, the great genetic variability represented by the olive trees of Lazio constitutes an important resource for facing the climatic adversities of the future.
To know more:
Read/download the ARSIAL volume “Native fruit and olive trees of Lazio”
See the ARSIAL video “Stories of biodiversity – The olive trees of Lazio”
