Comments on: Commercial cultivars come to Siwa oasis — and increase agricultural biodiversity http://www.vaviblog.com/commercial-cultivars-come-to-siwa-oasis-and-increase-agricultural-biodiversity/ A voice for N.I. Vavilov Sun, 31 Jul 2011 02:15:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Andre Retief http://www.vaviblog.com/commercial-cultivars-come-to-siwa-oasis-and-increase-agricultural-biodiversity/comment-page-1/#comment-3417 Andre Retief Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:55:30 +0000 http://www.vaviblog.com/?p=1431#comment-3417 A note on new cultivars being introduced to Siwa: - Living in Siwa's most western (settled) oasis of Bahy'eldin & working with the local Bedouin farmers as an organic agronomist, I was approached in 2009 to solve an olive fruit-set problem. Olives remained the size of a pea, with less than than 10% ever reaching maturity. Believing it was nutrient based, farmers began amending their 4,000 year old organic-soils with crude, artificial fertilizer applications. The problem only occurred in the Kalamata & 'elSpanyi' (Spanish) var. with the local Hamid & Saidi varieties unaffected. A bit of research & the experienced opinion of a horticulturist from Palastine determined there were too few CU (chilling-units). These new european imports were simply not acclimatized to the 'warmer' winters of Siwa. It may take the trees up to 5 years to adjust or risk replacement. Whilst lessons include the unnecessary application of artificial fertilizers into a region where (in the 70's) elders wisely vowed to refrain from chemical inputs, - modernization could potentially offer the Siwa depression a greater understanding of water management & soil conservation where soil-salinity is fast becoming one of their greatest challenges. A note on new cultivars being introduced to Siwa: – Living in Siwa’s most western (settled) oasis of Bahy’eldin & working with the local Bedouin farmers as an organic agronomist, I was approached in 2009 to solve an olive fruit-set problem. Olives remained the size of a pea, with less than than 10% ever reaching maturity. Believing it was nutrient based, farmers began amending their 4,000 year old organic-soils with crude, artificial fertilizer applications.
The problem only occurred in the Kalamata & ‘elSpanyi’ (Spanish) var. with the local Hamid & Saidi varieties unaffected. A bit of research & the experienced opinion of a horticulturist from Palastine determined there were too few CU (chilling-units). These new european imports were simply not acclimatized to the ‘warmer’ winters of Siwa. It may take the trees up to 5 years to adjust or risk replacement.

Whilst lessons include the unnecessary application of artificial fertilizers into a region where (in the 70′s) elders wisely vowed to refrain from chemical inputs, – modernization could potentially offer the Siwa depression a greater understanding of water management & soil conservation where soil-salinity is fast becoming one of their greatest challenges.

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