Categorization of the date palm agrobiodiversity in the oasis of Siwa (Libyan Desert, Egypt): the olive tree categorization should it or can it be similar?

Lecture (in French) given to the Annual Meeting of the GDR Mosaïque #3355, INEE, CNRS
at the Institut des Sciences de la Communication du CNRS (ISCC),
Paris (France), Jan. 6^th 2015.

Categorization of the date palm agrobiodiversity in the oasis of Siwa (Libyan Desert, Egypt): the olive tree categorization should it or can it be similar?

– Original title:
Catégorisation de l’agrobiodiversité du palmier dattier dans l’oasis de Siwa (désert libyque, Égypte): celle de l’olivier doit-elle, peut-elle être semblable?

– In a few words:

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is the main cash crop of the Siwa oasis in the Libyan desert of Egypt (35,000 tons in 2013), but also the centerpiece of the local ecosystem, a characteristic shared by most oasis systems.

The place occupied by the olive tree (Olea europaea L.) in this oasis is more unorthodox, and comes soon after the place and the significance of the date palm in Siwa.

We thoroughly studied the local taxonomy and agrobiodiversity structure of the date palm in Siwa (see The agrobiodiversity of the Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Siwa Oasis (Egypt): between what is said, written, and forgotten). We have here an original model of practical and symbolic domestication of the plant. We wonder here whether this model can be applied to the olive tree, although, from a botanical point of view, the two cultures are quite different.

Coexistence de palmiers dattiers et d’oliviers dans un jardin d’oasis à Siwa.
le 14 nov. 2014, Siwa (Égypte). © Vincent Battesti