DROLIVe: a platform for monitoring olive groves

In the Mediterranean basin, olive groves represent one of the most important and valuable cultivation increasing local farming incomes and providing several ecosystems services. The largest olive oil production derives from Spain which produces about 1400k tons (t) followed by Italy 474.6k t and Greece 320k t in 2015–16 (IOOC, 2018). In Italy, Tuscany is the 6th ranked region for olive oil production but the land use changes restricted olive groves to marginal areas. In this context, precision agriculture and crop modelling may represent useful techniques and tools for monitoring the health status of olive groves, providing a support to farmers in applying management practices to make the cultivation more profitable. Building on these premises, the DROLIVe project (POR FSE 2014-2020) is focused to develop a monitoring platform of olive groves for a specific area of Tuscany by coupling remote sensing techniques with phenological modelling.