Fanny Sabardeil was the youngest exhibitor, barely 30 years old, at the Perpignan agricultural festival (Pyrénées-Orientales), from October 11 to 13, and is embarking on a great adventure: setting up in agriculture with a olive orchard of 5.5 ha, or 4,900 trees. Enough to join his companion, who already farms pomegranates and apples near Espira-de-Conflent (Pyrénées-Orientales). But Fanny Sabardeil’s orchard will not look like those you might come across nearby.
In the small valley nestled, literally, at the foot of Canigou, between Espira and Estoher (Pyrénées-Orientales), the olive trees were planted in hedges at the beginning of last week, and will be managed in this way so that they can be harvested by machine, and not by hand, to limit labor costs. Fanny’s companion, Jean-François Planas, provides some details: “For variety, we chose an Arbosane clone. A variety which, if not local, remains local, since it is Catalan. With the altitude, 400 m, our orchard should suffer less from the effects of heat and be less affected by the olive fly which causes damage elsewhere. It’s not that it won’t be present but it will cause less damage. »
This establishment also means that Fanny Sabardeil’s olive trees will require fewer phytosanitary treatments, a central point for this project focused on “healthy eating”, as she explains. The orchard will also be irrigated by water from the Llech, which flows below directly from the Canigou.
The farming couple can thus hope for a first – small – harvest in three years, and production of olive oil to follow. Ultimately, the expected production is around 1,000 to 1,500 liters per hectare. Less than the 2,000 liters per hectare expected from a similar orchard in the plains, but quite enough to complete their range of products which they intend to sell directly to consumers, in particular through packages for businesses.
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