In this context, the cooperative sector, which channels around 60% of the olive oil produced in our country, acts as a fundamental mechanism for aggregating supply and accessing markets, although the challenge of increasing added value at source, as opposed to bulk sales, remains (Vilar et al., 2018). Added to this is the rise in production costs (20–40% over the last decade), with harvesting accounting for between 30% and 50% of the total. This context is giving rise to a growing duality between traditional models and high-density systems, which are more mechanised but also more capital-intensive. On a social level, the sector generates between 40 and 50 million working days per year, particularly in Andalusia (where over 70 per cent of associated employment is concentrated), but air humidity or temperature; low-cost sensors have been developed that can measure canopy temperature to identify water stress in plants at an early stage, or use computer vision techniques to identify pests or diseases, with the processing carried out by the sensor itself. As for advances in connectivity, this is no longer a limitation typical of rural areas thanks to the implementation of LoRaWAN4 networks, which are enabling communication between sensor networks and cloud-based servers, providing fast and cost-effective access to any user, anywhere. All these advances are paving the way for the gradual widespread adoption of sensors in agriculture. The availability of a large volume of data generated by these systems will, in turn, facilitate the development of personalised advisory solutions based on artificial intelligence, capable of adapting precisely to the specific needs of each user or context. Furthermore, the integration of fixed and mobile sensors in situ with remote-sensing techniques will promote the development of digital twins and visualisation and analysis All these advances are paving the way for the gradual widespread adoption of sensors in agriculture. it faces a serious problem of ageing population: over 55 per cent of producers are over 55 years old, whilst fewer than 10–12 per cent are under 40. This imbalance threatens generational renewal and is constrained platforms, based on open data models, leading to significant advances in early-warning systems for abiotic stress (water stress, heat stress) and biotic stress (pests and diseases), thereby enabling more profitable and sustainable olive groves. Socio-economic factors in the olive sector: challenges for competitiveness and sustainability The Spanish olive sector is characterised by a high degree of structural fragmentation, with over 2,750,000 hectares and around 350,000 holdings, of which more than 60–65 per cent are smaller than 5 ha, which limits the capacity for investment and modernisation (Carmona-Torres et al., 2023). by factors such as low profitability, price volatility and barriers to accessing land. In terms of the market, Spain is the world’s leading producer of olive oil, with an average output of around 1.2 million tonnes in recent years (≈45% of the global total), with more than 60% destined for export. However, the sector is characterised by high price volatility, with fluctuations that, in certain marketing years, have exceeded 100 per cent, creating enormous uncertainty in production, despite the growing dynamism of the premium, organic and origin-specific segments. In this context, quality products (more than 30 PDOs – Protected Designations of Origin) allow for price increases of 10 to 30 per cent, although their 4 LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) is a long-range, low-power LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) protocol designed for the Internet of Things [Editor's note] The current state and future of olive growing in Spain 45
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