Performance and water requirement of young olives (Olea europaea L.) in the harsh environment of Kuwait

In the harsh environmental conditions of Kuwait, plants are frequently exposed to high temperatures, low relative humidity and drought. Because water resources available for agriculture are limited, an efficient irrigation strategy is vital for sustainable olive production. In view of these facts, a study to determine the behavior and water requirement of young olive plants under Kuwait's environmental conditions was carried out. The investigation included five cultivars (cvs. Arbequina, Barnea, Coratina, Koroneiki and UC13A6) and three levels of irrigation (50, 75 and 100% of ETc) with brackish water (ECe 5.0 dS m(-1)). One-year-old grafted plants were used in this study. With the exception of UC13A6, the cultivars showed good adaptation to the harsh weather conditions in Kuwait and to brackish water irrigation during the first 18 months after the beginning of the irrigation treatments. Indeed, they showed good height and shoot growth, with cultivars Barnea, Arbequina and Coratina showing the highest values. Cultivar Barnea was the most vigorous variety under Kuwait's environmental conditions. Vegetative growth in these varieties was not significantly reduced in the 50% ETc treatment. This indicates huge opportunities to improve the water-use-efficiency through further investigations aimed at optimizing the amount of water supplied with irrigation.