Viveros Hernandorena has launched, together with the Desertification Research Center (CIDE, CSIC–UV–GVA), a research project fully funded by the company to study how deficit irrigation, water stress, and salinity affect carob trees. The goal is to transfer rigorous knowledge to the sector and accelerate the modernization of a crop that is gaining agronomic and economic relevance.
This initiative is part of the Carob Tree Project, the program through which Viveros Hernandorena has been working since 2011 to professionalize carob cultivation by improving plant material, modernizing agronomic management, and generating technical knowledge.
For more than a decade, the company has focused its efforts on addressing the main challenges of the crop: first, stabilizing the production of grafted plants —now with a 60–65% success rate— and later evaluating, across its 3 hectares of experimental farms, different plant types, planting dates, pruning strategies, irrigation, nutrition, and pest control.
“These trials have allowed us to move toward a more intensive and professional cultivation model, but they have also highlighted the need to deepen our understanding of water management in order to achieve fully profitable yields,” explains Fernando Hernandorena Ribas, the company’s manager.
Currently, the experimental farms reach yields of around 10 tons per hectare, but the goal is to reach 15 t/ha —an increase that requires precise knowledge of how the carob tree responds to deficit irrigation, water stress, and salinity.
“After more than a decade of progress in grafted plant production and crop management, we are now taking a decisive step by promoting specific scientific research on the water needs of the carob tree and its behavior under stress conditions,” adds Fernando Hernandorena.
A Research Project Led by CIDE
The project is led by Juan Miguel Ramírez Cuesta, CSIC researcher at CIDE, and includes the participation of Diego Intrigliolo Molina, the current director of the center. Both lead this study with the aim of defining water‑management strategies and varietal selection criteria that maximize production and water‑use efficiency. The research also involves the University of Bari (Italy), with the participation of professors Camposeo and Maldera, expanding both the geographic scope and the international relevance of the results.
According to Intrigliolo, the scientific interest is clear: “Although the carob tree is a drought‑tolerant crop, when grown intensively it has specific water requirements —an aspect that has not been studied in depth until now.”
The long‑term study is structured around three main lines: determining the water needs of carob trees in professional cultivation through production functions that identify the agronomic and economic optimum; evaluating the crop’s response to deficit irrigation to design sustainable intensification strategies; and studying salinity tolerance in varieties and rootstocks, a key factor in areas where the limitation is not only water quantity but also water quality.
First Results
The project began in March and combines an initial phase of controlled‑environment trials with a second phase of validation under commercial field conditions. In this first stage, the CIDE team has established experimental plantations to evaluate the physiological response of different varieties and rootstocks under various irrigation regimes and salinity levels. “We are still at the beginning, but we can already clearly see that not all varieties and rootstocks behave the same under water restriction,” Intrigliolo explains. This information will help guide growers toward the most suitable plant material depending on water availability in each area.
In parallel, CIDE and Viveros Hernandorena are preparing the next stage of the study, which will take place in the company’s adult orchards, where the trees already have sufficient development to evaluate the crop’s response under real conditions.
Impact on the Sector
All this knowledge will enable Viveros Hernandorena to offer technical recommendations based on scientific evidence —a shift that represents a paradigm change in the nursery sector. “In addition to providing high‑quality plants, we want to transfer knowledge to growers,” emphasizes Fernando Hernandorena.
This research project, led and fully funded by Viveros Hernandorena, reinforces the company’s commitment to generating and transferring technical knowledge that supports the professionalization of carob cultivation.
With this line of work, Viveros Hernandorena continues advancing toward its goal of consolidating a modern, efficient, and profitable cultivation model, positioning the carob tree as a solid and sustainable alternative for Mediterranean regions.
