Views: 16
Custòdia Agrària, GOB Menorca’s land stewardship programme, closes the year with an agreement with Torralba Petit, an olive oil production farm. The estate, covering 5 hectares and located in Alaior, has one thousand olive trees, mainly of the Arbequina and Coratina varieties. In addition, the farm includes a plot with two hundred olive trees from fifty different varieties originating from different countries around the Mediterranean basin.
The Torralba Petit farm is jointly run by Manuel Martínez Corroza, who holds a degree in Business Administration, is a graduate in Olive Growing and the landowner, and Bernat Pons Durà, an agricultural technician and the farm’s farmer. One of the main objectives is to combine organic olive oil production with nature conservation. To achieve this, efforts are made to keep the soil covered with vegetation, preserve small wooded areas, create water points to enhance biodiversity, and control pests using natural methods that replace the use of agrotoxins.
Innovation and efficiency are also part of the farm’s daily work. The estate is equipped with humidity sensors that measure the water needs of the roots, ensuring that water is supplied only when necessary.
Menorca faces several clear challenges for olive cultivation, such as humidity or the presence of the olive fly, the main pest affecting olive trees. Climate change is also a serious threat to this crop. For olive trees to complete their cycle properly, they require a minimum of eight hundred hours of cold below 8ºC. In 2024, average temperatures were high, and this cycle was not completed adequately.
Even so, Martínez Corroza, president of the Oli de Menorca Association since last August, views the future of the olive oil sector with optimism. The island offers conditions that favour the production of high-quality extra virgin olive oil. Moreover, “Oli de Menorca”, which has recently obtained official recognition as a Protected Geographical Indication, is the first olive oil in Europe with an organic PGI.
The label adds commercial value and may soon become an emblematic distinction. The olive oil sector is still emerging in Menorca, but it already has five oil mills, with a sixth expected next year when the Molí de Torralba mill comes into operation. “Oli Molí de Torralba” is precisely the brand under which Torralba Petit oil will be marketed.
2025, an important year for Custòdia Agrària
The Custòdia Agrària programme has concluded an important year. In addition to the agreement with Torralba Petit, dedicated to olive oil production, in 2025 new agreements have been established with horticultural land, such as s’Hortet de s’Algar, livestock farms such as Binisserralla, and fruit tree farms such as l’Hort de Son Trémol.
These mutual support agreements between GOB and farmers, true custodians of the land, are based on a shared vision of the future of agriculture: a resilient and sustainable model. There are now 42 active custody agreements.
We believe it is excellent news that the example of agroecological practices is spreading and that the area under stewardship is expanding through agricultural activity that conserves nature.
If you would like to learn more about the Custòdia Agrària programme, you can watch the following video, which explains it in one minute. If you wish to get to know the participating farms, their farmers and their products, you can consult our catalogue.