Our main aim at DORA Farm is to produce Extra virgin olive oil to a very high qualitative standard,
using sustainable agricultural practices and preserving olive biocultural refugia.
Our medium-sized olive grove, located in the hills of central Sicily, is the home to both centenary trees and younger plants.
DORA’s top priority is to produce high quality extra virgin olive oil,
whilst protecting the environment and developing sustainable agriculture in rural areas. DORA takes great care in its use of natural resources, the fruit of a specific agro-system and rural landscape.
By “agro-systems” we mean agricultural ecosystems able to promote biodiversity that are, in turn, integrated with the conservation and management of local landscapes and cultural traditions: a true model of sustainable, multifunctional agriculture.
The local native cultivar is Biancolilla, although there are also a few Moresca and Nocellara Etnea trees in our orchard.
Our Biancolilla trees have a wide crown and produce an excellent extra virgin olive oil with extremely sweet organoleptic properties characterised by a delicate, sweet-smelling and distinctive smooth flavour and aroma.
The Moresca cultivar is a vigorous plant that can grow to be incredibly large. Its olives are capable of producing excellent extra virgin olive oil.
Its oil is strong in flavour, tickling the throat, with an aftertaste of green almond, green tomato, grass and apple.
The fruit of Nocellara Etnea trees can produce an extra virgin olive oil which has the most strong and intense organoleptic properties of the whole range of Sicilian olive oil varieties, with a slight fruity flavour and a pronounced aftertaste resembling thistle, artichoke, green leaves, almond, or green tomato.
Our farming practices generate healthy and quality food in a sustainable way, while also gradually improving the conservation of our environment and helping mitigate the effects of climate change, attenuating the phenomenon of rural depopulation and its negative consequences for the land.
By identifying an agricultural product with its geographical origin, significant opportunities open up for producers and useful synergies can be created.
Agriculture is multifunctional when it has one or several roles or functions that are additional to its primary role of food production. These may include contributing to long-term food security, the viability of rural areas, the safeguarding of cultural heritage, land conservation, the maintenance of agricultural landscapes and agro-biological diversity amongst others.
Soil is a fundamental medium for the agro-system, one that is little understood. It provides a habitat for not just flora and fauna but also beneficial micro-organisms and pathogens.
Olive grove ecosystems contribute greatly to the biological and cultural diversity of Southern Europe, providing a wide variety of habitats for many wild species such as reptiles, butterflies, other invertebrates, birds and mammals, as well as embodying the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the local communities.
Last but not least there is the important role that olive growing plays in fixing atmospheric CO2, preventing soil erosion and soil drainage.
DORA is R&D
We collaborate with several academic consortia throughout Europe, carrying out research on ways of integrating sustainable development and eco- innovations into the sectors of agriculture and nature conservation.
DORA is also active in the fields of ecology and environmental education, as well as in social agriculture and rural tourism.