89 The olive grove of the future: how to select the best materials for productivity, sustainability and efficiency in the context of climate change ANTÓNIO M. CORDEIRO, CARLA S.F. INÊS, CATARINA MANUELITO, WELIDA KELLER, AFONSO DA PONTE, HELENA SAPETA, JOSÉ PRAGANA, JOÃO GUERRA National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research I.P. (INIAV) Introduction Olive growing currently faces a range of structural challenges that affect the sector’s sustainability and competitiveness. Among these, climate change, water scarcity, the need for full mechanisation of cultivation operations, and increasing pressure on pest and disease control stand out. The choice of plant material plays a central and strategic role. National varieties, the result of long processes of edaphoclimatic adaptation and empirical selection carried out by farmers, offer significant potential to address these challenges, Figure 1 – View of a CP RO polt (C. Inês 2015) provided they are properly characterised and evaluated in new types of olive groves (such as hedgerow groves) and in new production systems. In genetic improvement programmes, genetic diversity within progeny is another avenue for finding materials adapted to the sector’s new requirements. Portuguese Olive Refeernce Collection: a strategic reservoir of possibilities The Portuguese Olive Reference Collection - CPRO (Figure 1) constitutes a fundamental scientific infrastructure for the preservation and enhancement of conservation of the genetic
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