On 26 June 2026, in Ugento, Puglia, the Experimental Field of Save the Olives, CNR-IPSP and Forestaforte was inaugurated: five hectares of red earth in Salento dedicated to the evaluation and selection of new olive tree varieties resistant to Xylella fastidiosa, developed through a long-term genetic improvement programme launched in 2019.
The plants put in the ground are the result of years of crossbreeding between native olive varieties, selected to combine resistance to the bacterium, adaptation to climate change and the organoleptic quality of the oil. Field validation represents the final phase of a lengthy process that saw the plants grow and develop first in the laboratory and then in a Screen House.
The inauguration was attended by Dame Helen Mirren, Save the Olives ambassador, the association’s team, CNR-IPSP researchers, Forestaforte, institutional representatives, EFSA and an international delegation of scientists – confirming the attention this phytosanitary emergency is receiving at European level.
On the occasion of the event, the three-year partnership between Save the Olives, CNR-IPSP, Forestaforte and Salov-Filippo Berio was announced, aimed at strengthening laboratory infrastructure and field experimental activities, with the objective of accelerating plant selection and screening processes and facilitating the transfer of research results to the production world.
A public-private collaboration model that demonstrates how scientific research, business and civil society can work together to address one of the most serious environmental and economic emergencies in the Mediterranean.
