The water footprint of olives and olive oil in Spain

June 9, 2019

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Publicated to: SPANISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH. 9 (4): 1089-1104 - 2011-12-01 9(4), DOI: 10.5424/sjar/20110904-035-11

Authors:

Salmoral, G; Aldaya, MM; Chico, D; Garrido, A; Llamas, MR

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Affiliations

Univ Complutense Madrid, Geol Fac, Dept Geodynam - Author

Univ Politecn Madrid, CEIGRAM Res Ctr Management Agr & Environm Risks, Dept Agr Econ - Author

Univ Twente, Twente Water Ctr - Author

Abstract

This paper evaluates the water footprint of Spanish olives and olive oil over the period 1997-2008. In particular, it analyses the three colour components of the water footprint: green (rainwater stored in the soil), blue (surface and groundwater) and grey (freshwater required to assimilate load of pollutants). Apparent water productivity and virtual water embedded in olive oil exports have also been studied. Results show more than 99.5% of the water footprint of one liter of bottled olive oil is related to the olive production, whereas less than 0.5% is due to the other components such as bottle, cap and label. Over the studied period, the green water footprint in absolute terms of Spanish olive oil production represents about 72% in rainfed systems and just 12% in irrigated olive orchards. Blue and grey water footprints represent 6% and 10% of the national water footprint, respectively. It is shown that olive production is concentrated in regions with the smallest water footprint per unit of product. However, the increase of groundwater consumption in the main olive producing region (Andalusia), from 98 to 378 Mm(3) between 1997 and 2008, has added significant pressure in the upstream Guadalquivir basin. This raises questions about the sustainability of irrigated olive orchards for export from the region. Finally, the virtual water related to olive oil exports illustrate the importance of green water footprint of rainfed olives amounting to about 77% of the total virtual water exports.

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Keywords

Apparent water productivityGroundwaterIrrigationIrrigation schemeScarcitySustainabilityTradeVirtual water trade

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal SPANISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2011, it was in position 24/56, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Agriculture, Multidisciplinary. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Agronomy and Crop Science.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-27:

WoS: 35
Scopus: 44

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-27:

The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 10.
The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 101 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

The Total Score from Altmetric: 3.

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
Additionally, the work has been submitted to a journal classified as Diamond in relation to this type of editorial policy.
Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/11793/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

Views: 1,000
Downloads: 1,134

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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Netherlands.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Salmoral, G.) .

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Awards linked to the item

We would like to thank to the Botin Foundation and Water Observatory Team for the financial support provided and achievement of this study. The contents of the report remain the responsibility of the authors.

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