This article is intended as a review of the current situation regarding the impact of olive cultivation in Southern Spain (Andalusia) on soil degradation processes and its progression into yield impacts, due to diminishing soil profile depth and climate change in the sloping areas where it is usually cultivated. Finally, it explores the possible implications in the regional agricultural policy these results might have. It tries to show how the expansion and intensification of olive cultivation in Andalusia, especially since the late 18th century, had as a consequence an acceleration of erosion processes that can be identified by several indicators and techniques. Experimental and model analysis indicates that the rate of soil erosion accelerated since the expansion of mechanization in the late 1950s. In addition, that unsustainable erosion rates have prevailed in the region since the shift to a more intense olive cultivation systems by the end of the 17th Century. Although agroenvironmental measures implemented since the early 2000s have reduced erosion rates, they are still unsustainably high in a large fraction of the olive area in the region. In the case of olive orchards located in steeper areas with soils of lower water-holding capacity (due to coarse texture and stone content), cumulative erosion has already had a high impact on reducing their potential productivity. This is one of the factors that contributes towards increasing the gap between these less intensified orchards in the mountainous areas and those in the hilly areas with more gentle slopes, such as for instance the lower stretches of the Guadalquivir River Valley. In the case of olive orchards in the hilly areas with better soils, easier access to irrigation and lower production costs per unit, the efforts on soil conservation should be oriented towards limiting off-site damage, since the soil water-storage function of these soils may be preserved in the medium term even at the current soil erosion rates. The assessment made in this manuscript should be regarded as an initial approximation, since additional efforts in terms of increasing experimental records (for current or historical erosion) and of improving model analysis, with more comprehensive studies and more robust calibration and validation processes, are required.

Applying pruning residues in the lanes of olive groves has become a popular practice because it is economical and accrues benefits for soil and water management. This study presents an analysis of the impact of different rates of pruning residue on soil properties, in particular related with soil quality. Over 4 annual campaigns, chopped pruning residues used as a mulch were analyzed in terms of composition, coverage and moisture content to evaluate their effects on the amount of soil organic carbon (-10 cm and -20 cm) and CO₂ emissions, temperature and moisture. The experiment was carried out in a super-intensive olive orchard in Cordoba (SE, Spain) and used four amounts of fresh pruning residue: 7.5 t ha^⁻1(T1), 15.0 t ha^⁻1 (T2) and 30.0 t ha^⁻1 (T3), with a control T0 = 0.0 t ha¹. Mulch mean leaf fraction was 46.0 ± 17.5% (±SD) and initial water content, 24.8 ± 8.6%. The mulching benefits for soil moisture were observed in amounts of pruning residue >7.5 t ha^⁻1, which are only produced in super-intensive olive groves or in orchards with high tree densities. The low impact of the treatments on soil moisture was explained by the dramatic annual variations in residue moisture contents, caused by the regimes of high temperatures and rainfall-evapotranspiration deficits inherent to the Mediterranean Basin climate. Thus, the mulching capacity only resulted efficient when the residues were still humid in spring. In addition, 15.0 t ha^⁻1 of pruning residues was the threshold to provide significant increases in soil organic carbon at depths of 0-20 cm. Thus, accumulating pruning residue in lanes at rates of over 15 t ha^⁻1 (T2 and T3) is more convenient than a uniform distribution with lower amounts, due to the low mineralization rates occurring during warm seasons and the larger inputs of OM increasing the annual balance of SOC.