Grafted Roots
Innesto, A Rooted Art
Rooted in time and space, the practice of grafting olive plants go back to ancient times. Innesto, as the practice is called in Italian, may take place for many reasons. It can for instance be undertaken to domesticate spontaneously grown – as opposed to humanly planted – olive plants, whereby one takes advantage of an already rooted foundation in propagating olives (of personal preference). It is also exercised to cultivate the becoming of a certain taste or quality of oil, as well as to diminish the effects of a troublesome malady causing disorder to the production, such as is the case with the plant bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. Whether implemented for one or another reason, a common ground for the ancient practice of inserting seedlings of any given cultivar into another — commonly, though not always, by cutting down plants to their bare trunks — appear rooted in making use of an already entrenched matter; it being the plant through which innesto takes place as well as the skill with which this art of work comes about.
By way of me understanding and briefly retelling some situated knowledges, plants may either be grafted by opening small squares anywhere at the trunk and insert seedlings one-by-one, or by inserting a set of seedlings at the edges of the cut-off trunks (results of which are respectively shown on the left and right picture above). Which technique one uses, or if used conjointly, depends on the reason for the grafting. It also depends on the the end-result aimed for, as well as the size of the plant through which it advances. By way of example, the latter method, the one of completely cutting down existing plants either to stubs, took place as one practitioner aimed to make an intense oil with spicy notes and high bitterness hinted with fruity tones (instead of the rather dolce and medium-leveled oil produced through olives yielded by the existing branches).
As I have noted before, the spreading of the plant bacterium of Xylella fastidiosa casts a rather gloomy tone to present day olive cultivation in the region, where many parts, particularly within the province of Lecce, occur completely desiccated. Hence, while some practitioners choose to make use of the land in other ways — cultivating other crops — some have decided to make use of the practice of innesto. Hence, they insert seedlings of the seemingly resistance variety of Leccino into plants of less resistance kinds. One practitioner has for instance made used of both techniques of grafting mentioned above. He has done so on 42 out of roughly 215 secular plants rooted in a large field — which nowadays also is filled with rows of smaller tightly planted ones — in an attempt to prevent the old trunks from becoming desiccated. In this case, trunks of the Ogliarola Salentina variety have become grafted with Leccino, so to preserve the patrimonial landscape. In the meantime, the relatively newly planted trees have been cultivated to preserve olive oil production. Featured in the related pictures are also examples of how plastic wrappers may act protective shielding as well as imagery of how the landscape in some years may appear, are not certain mitigating measures undertaken.
In reading field notes from my first trip to Apulia last summer, it being my first encounter with olive plantations, many questions mark the presence of white straps. These are made out of some sort of textile, and they are tied around the trunks of plants. These straps were initially misunderstood by me as a wool that had been placed on the trunks to enhance hydration; an idea with which my current knowledge base occurs senseless, I am now aware of the material as cotton. I have also come to know it as another sort of protective matter. It namely shield plants from becoming affected by various insects climbing their trunks. Hence, caring for the plants as well as the production of olive oil, the cotton straps becomes placed on trunks and branches by practitioners, where they act as a trap of sorts for bugs that otherwise may affect plants in unwanted ways. That is, unwanted affects from a producer point of view.
