A dismal harvest concludes in Greece

Final estimates for the weather-afflicted ​‘off-year’ harvest in Greece suggest the country’s olive oil yield will fall below the initially projected 200,000 tons, reaching somewhere between 150,000 and 170,000 tons of olive oil. Production data released by the European Commission also indicate a poor olive oil crop of 175,000 tons, the lowest in the last six years and a stark contrast from last year’s bumper harvest of around 340,000 tons. “This has been one of the worst harvests in the last 30 years,” said producer and miller Periklis Tsoukalas from the Ilia region in the Peloponnese. ​“The initial estimates of 17,000 tons of olive oil in the region should be revised downward to around 14,000 tons.” “Apart from the reduced quantity, only 70 percent of the freshly pressed olive oil classifies as extra virgin here due to problems with the olive fruit fly,” he added. ​“The pesticides used cannot fight the pest effectively.” Producers in other regions were distressed by the ...