In 2003 the Council of the Alhambra and the Generalife instituted farming and exploitation practices in the olive trees of the Meadow of the Generalife as well as in other fields near the Monument (Alixares, Cemetery, Cerro del Aire, Huerta de la Mercería). It covers a global land area of 53 hectares and 4,722 mostly centennial olive trees.

The common olive trees that grow in this area belong to the “Lucio” species, an old variety of the province of Granada, also found in the regions of Norte-LaVega and Temple-Alhama. Although this type of olive tree is scarcely productive, only producing olives at the shoot ends of the tree, it is of historical and cultural importance owing to its agronomic singularity and its historical relationship to the Monumental complex.

The cultivation of olive trees was started in the 2003-2004 campaigns, the aim being to appraise the cultural and territorial value of these trees and the terrain, as well as to establish farming practices that are in accordance with nature and the environment. This allowed the Council to promote the cultivation of the Generalife Meadow (Dehesa del Generalife) olive trees in the Andalusian Committee of Ecological Agriculture (Asociación Comité Andaluz de Agricultura Ecológica).

The farming practices implemented are commonly used on ecological olive tree farms: cultivation, restoration, harvesting, pest treatment, pruning and re-plantation.