`IOC, UN Collaborate to Have Olive Recognized as Priority Species - Olive Oil Times
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IOC, UN Collaborate to Have Olive Recognized as Priority Species

By Lisa Anderson
Apr. 21, 2020 20:51 UTC
Summary Summary

The International Olive Council and the FAO are pri­or­i­tiz­ing the recog­ni­tion of the olive tree as a pri­or­ity species, with plans to pub­lish a cat­a­log of main olive vari­eties in 2022. The IOC is work­ing remotely due to Spain’s national lock­down, and has sup­ported over 20 coun­tries in estab­lish­ing germplasm banks to pre­serve diverse olive species, with plans to ensure healthy ini­tial plant mate­r­ial is deposited and authen­ti­cated in these banks.

The recog­ni­tion of the olive tree as a pri­or­ity species is among the goals of the International Olive Council (IOC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the com­ing years.

The IOC shared this and other strate­gies and objec­tives for the IOC-FAO net­work, which include pub­lish­ing a cat­a­log of the main olive vari­eties in 2022, in their lat­est newslet­ter.

The IOC is work­ing remotely due to the tem­po­rary clo­sure of their head­quar­ters in Madrid dur­ing Spain’s national lock­down to curb Covid-19.

Since 1994, the IOC has sup­ported more than 20 coun­tries to estab­lish germplasm banks, which ensure food secu­rity by pre­serv­ing numer­ous diverse olive species. Additionally, the IOC has assisted with devel­op­ing three inter­na­tional germplasm banks in Córdoba, Marrakesh and Izmir.

The IOC also said they will ensure that healthy ini­tial plant mate­r­ial is deposited into the germplasm banks. The True Healthy Olive Cultivar (THOC) project was pre­vi­ously devel­oped by the IOC to start work­ing toward this goal.

Another objec­tive of the IOC is the authen­ti­ca­tion and san­i­ta­tion of all bank mate­r­ial, by using the pro­to­col pro­posed at their sem­i­nar last year for their net­work of germplasm banks in Córdoba.

The Council has been work­ing on pro­mot­ing a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion sys­tem to ensure vari­ety authen­tic­ity and mate­r­ial free from pathogens listed in the direc­tives from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).

The IOC will be hold­ing annual sem­i­nars to achieve these goals, start­ing with one in Marrakesh later this year.

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