The foundation of the Terra Creta Olive Academy was announced by the Greek cereal producer Melissa Kikizas SA at a presentation at the Terra Creta premises in Kolymbari on Friday 10th March. Terra Creta is a subsidiary of Melissa Kikizas and the Olive Academy is an evolution of the “Producers Group” which Terra Creta created a number of years ago. It is organised on the model of the Wheat Academy in Larissa which Melissa Kikizas has been running since 2012.
In announcing the project, Melissa’s managing director Alexandros Kikizas said: “The aim of the Terra Creta Olive Academy is to offer theoretical and practical knowledge to producers through educational programmes, while our company’s agronomists will be continually at the side of the producers to offer individualised advice where it is needed. New cultivation methods will be explored as well as the use of new technologies, while there will be discussions on the correct method of harvesting and transporting the fruit to the olive mill. At the same time there will be great emphasis on ways of reducing the environmental footprint of olive production.”
Also, Mr Kikizas added: “At the Academy we will aim at in-depth involvement in sustainable development, as indeed we are obliged to do out of respect for the environment and the coming generations, but also to be prepared for the new regulations on this issue coming from the EU.”
The Academy offers its producer members a range of advantages and benefits including educational seminars, comprehensive digital monitoring of cultivation through Smart Agriculture and agricultural warning systems, bonus prices for high-quality oil production, participation in the creation of special olive oil products with corresponding price incentives, and minimum guaranteed prices to ensure the producer’s viability even in difficult years.
The vision of the Academy and its members, as presented at the event, is the development and evolution of local olive oil production, with increasing improvements in quality, increase in quantity and reduction in the cost of production, so as to create a model of sustainable agriculture at a global level.
In conclusion Mr Kikizas said: “It is our shared love for that blessed fruit that unites us, that is why we are here today. Let us all embrace this effort, so as to give Greek olive oil the status it deserves and to create something which we can be proud of in the future.”
The event was attended by the Regional Governor for Chania Nikos Kalogeris, the mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis, the president of the Chania Chamber of Commerce Antonis Rokakis and the managing director of ELGO DIMITRA Panagiotis Hatzinikolaou.
(Haniotika Nea 14/03/23)