Integrating olive orchards with wild asparagus and free-range chickens can provide agroecological and economic benefits. Olive trees use only 55% of available sunlight, so the understory can be used to grow shade-tolerant wild asparagus. Chickens can graze the asparagus and provide pest control and fertilization to the orchard through their manure. This diversified system makes use of unused resources, provides multiple income sources, and has benefits for soil, animals, and the environment over intensive monocropping or livestock systems.

1. An agroecological integration experience:
bringing knowledge together
Olive-wild asparagus-chickens
Rosati Adolfo
adolfo.rosati@crea.gov.it
Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura, centro di ricerca
Olivicoltura, Frutticoltura e Agrumicoltura (CREA – OFA),
via Nursina 2, 06049 Spoleto (PG), Italy

2. In EU > 4 million ha of olives
Becoming unprofitable (costs
price decoupling)
Risk of abandonment

3. Integrating crops and
livestok may be one
agroecological solution
More yield
More income
More sustainable

4. In this project:
Olives, wild asparagus, Chickens

5. Why growing wild
asparagus under
olives?

6. Additional crop, additional income
Interesting price (10-30 €/kg)
Recently studied
Grows naturally under olives
New crop, but existing market

7. Radiation use by olive is low
Villalobos et al. (2006):
Highest yields with
55% light interception.
45% cannot be used to produce
oil, but can be used to produce
asparagus (shade tolerant).
Olive
100%
55 %
45%

11. Why free range chickens?
Free range is increasing
Animals welfare, meat quality, environment

12. Intensive chickens
Problems of animal welfare,
pollution, antibiotics, genetic
erosion, meat quality, immage, ecc.

13. Is Free range sustainable?
• Lowe feed conversion efficiency
• Greater land use

14. There is no reason why
chickens should graze on land
dedicated only to them!
Chickens can graze orchards!
Many advantages

15. Effective weeding

17. 180 kg/ha N 220 kg/ha P2O5
Fertilization
Pecunia non olet

18. If you would like a copy, please let me know!
adolfo.rosati@crea.gov.it

19. Other advantages of the chicken olive
combination
Trees protect birds (wind, sun, temperature,
raptors) and promote grazing and wellbeing
Grazing improves meat quality and may lower
feed consumption and costs
Manure better than NPK
Chickens may contribute to some pest control
(olive fly, weevil)

20. Chicken stomach with olive pits

22. … and grass!

23. Chicken can control
olive suckers

24. Conclusions
Grazing in the orchard saves the Land use
Impact due to grazing in free range systems
Chickens virtually eliminate the olive orchard
impact (mowing, fertilization…)
Other advantages (Meat quality, animal
welfare, pest control…)

25. EUROPE
4 billion chickens
4 million ha olives
=1000 chickens/ha
If 250 kg/ha fertilizer (N+P+K) are saved
Then, 1 billion kg of fertilizer are saved
1 kg fertilizer = 1 kg of fossil fuel
- 4 million tons of CO2 (0.1%)

26. Thanks for your
patience
adolfo.rosati@crea.gov.it